Liberal journalists and celebrities praised the Badlands National Park’s brief moment of “defiance” against the Trump administration Tuesday when it published a series of tweets related to global warming.
When Badland’s tweets were taken down, journalists and actors decried the “fascist” Trump administration for censoring scientific facts.
Well, it turned out none of that was true. The National Park Service put out a statement claiming a former employee “compromised” their official Twitter account. The Park Service also said the Trump administration did not tell them to remove the tweets, they did it on their own.
So, much for a defiant agency.
But the Park Service statement came out after sensational media headlines. The Washington Post wrote “For a few hours, Badlands National Park was bad to the bone in defiance of Trump.”
The Verge reported, “Badlands National Park stands up to Trump administration by tweeting facts.” Some journalists took to Twitter to vent their frustration with “fascism” in America.
Badlands National Park’s Twitter account published a series messages about the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, claiming the greenhouse gas increased ocean acidity since pre-industrial times.
The tweets seemed out of line with the National Park Service’s mission, especially since Badlands National Park is in landlocked South Dakota and wouldn’t be affected by ocean acidification.
The NPS “preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations,” according to their website.
New York Magazine tied the “compromised” Badlands tweets to a Trump administration “gag order” for the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on talking to the press and putting out officials statements and documents
“With new rules like this in place, where’s the public going to get its scientific information?” NY Magazine asked, unironically.
The tweets also came after at least two other government social media accounts were used to share posts critical of President Trump. The National Park Service retweeted a New York Times post showing how much smaller Trump’s inauguration crow was than President Obama’s in 2008. The Parks Service also shared an Esquire.com article claiming mentions of “climate change” were scrubbed from Whitehouse.gov.
