'Without evidence' Is A New Catchphrase At NPR

When a reporter asked President Donald Trump for his thoughts on the teenager who killed two protesters and injured a third person in Kenosha, Wisc., Trump said, it looked like "self-defense."The lead of the NPR story later that day reads that Trump claimed "without evidence, that it appeared the gunman was acting in self-defense."Among the most tricky decisions that NPR journalists must make are when and how to challenge a statement made by a speaker in a story. The choice to add a note of doubt, an outright dismissal or to let slide a dubious claim is made story by story, even sentence by sentence. Over the last week, NPR listeners and readers noted the shorthand use of "without evidence,"In mid-August, during a of the week in politics with host Scott Simon, Senior Correspondent and Editor Ron Elving noted, "But it's not the first time Trump has said, without evidence, that voting by mail is more vulnerable to fraud or that it helps Democrats."Houff is right. The evidence may be confusing or inconclusive, but it exists, and it's inaccurate to say that Trump had none.