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President Donald Trump tours Paradise, Calif., with Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, California Gov. Jerry Brown, Paradise Mayor Jody Jones, and FEMA Administrator Brock Long, right, during a visit to a neighborhood impacted by the wildfires, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)
#RakeNews: Finns Ridicule Trump's Claim That They Prevent Fires Like California's by "Raking" Forests
When asked about the U.S. president's comments, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto laughed and said he never said anything about raking to Trump
Nov 18, 2018
The nation of Finland was collectively dumbfounded by U.S. President Donald Trump's claim from the fire-ravaged town of Paradise, California that Finns prevent such devastating wildfires by consistently "raking" the floors of their forests.
Speaking alongside California's outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic governor-elect Gavin Newsom over the weekend, Trump once again attempted to blame the deadliest wildfire in California's history on poor forest management, and declared that Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told him Finns spend "a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don't have any problem."
When Trump was asked in an interview if the human-caused climate crisis--which has contributed to prolonged droughts and high California heat--may have more to do with the devastating fires than insufficient raking, he said no.
\u201cTrump (self-described genius) thinks Finland have fewer forest fires than California because they rake more.\nhttps://t.co/FPvtNeuBHo\u201d— James Felton (@James Felton) 1542488806
In remarks published in a Finnish newspaper on Sunday, Niinisto said he spoke briefly with Trump about forest management when they were both in Paris for Armistice Day events last weekend, but he had no recollection of discussing "raking" as a wildfire prevention practice and laughed when the interviewer asked him about the U.S. president's comments.
"I told him that Finland is a land covered by forests, but we also have a good control system and network," Niinisto said.
Like their president, ordinary Finns were baffled by Trump's comments and quickly took to social media to mock the U.S. president with photos and videos accompanied by hashtags like #RakeFinlandGreatAgain and #RakeNews.
\u201c\u201cIt rains like hell and is cold AF.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/dfXJ86oOHy\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1542598767
\u201cNot on my watch!\n#Rakenews\u201d— Arto Aspfors (@Arto Aspfors) 1542537165
\u201cIn Finland even small kids rake forests.\n#raking #finland #forestrake #rakefinlandgreatagain\u201d— Anders Furu (@Anders Furu) 1542537397
Just this afternoon I was busy meeting my raking quota. #RakeNews #Finland #Haravointi pic.twitter.com/HLaHU0bimO
-- Tarja van Veldhoven (@tarjuccia) November 19, 2018
\u201cMake America Rake Again. #MARA @realDonaldTrump #Finland\u201d— Stephen Sutton (@Stephen Sutton) 1542535570
One Finnish woman posted a photo pretending to vaccuum the forest floor.
"Just an ordinary day in the Finnish forest," she wrote.
\u201cJust an ordinary day in the Finnish forest ~ Ihan normip\u00e4iv\u00e4 suomalaisessa mets\u00e4ss\u00e4 #Trump #forest #firesafety #raking #forestry #Finland #Finnish #CaliforniaFire #RakingAmericaGreatAgain #rakingtheforest #Suomi #haravointi #mets\u00e4palot #rakingleaves\u201d— Pyry Luminen (@Pyry Luminen) 1542550421
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The nation of Finland was collectively dumbfounded by U.S. President Donald Trump's claim from the fire-ravaged town of Paradise, California that Finns prevent such devastating wildfires by consistently "raking" the floors of their forests.
Speaking alongside California's outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic governor-elect Gavin Newsom over the weekend, Trump once again attempted to blame the deadliest wildfire in California's history on poor forest management, and declared that Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told him Finns spend "a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don't have any problem."
When Trump was asked in an interview if the human-caused climate crisis--which has contributed to prolonged droughts and high California heat--may have more to do with the devastating fires than insufficient raking, he said no.
\u201cTrump (self-described genius) thinks Finland have fewer forest fires than California because they rake more.\nhttps://t.co/FPvtNeuBHo\u201d— James Felton (@James Felton) 1542488806
In remarks published in a Finnish newspaper on Sunday, Niinisto said he spoke briefly with Trump about forest management when they were both in Paris for Armistice Day events last weekend, but he had no recollection of discussing "raking" as a wildfire prevention practice and laughed when the interviewer asked him about the U.S. president's comments.
"I told him that Finland is a land covered by forests, but we also have a good control system and network," Niinisto said.
Like their president, ordinary Finns were baffled by Trump's comments and quickly took to social media to mock the U.S. president with photos and videos accompanied by hashtags like #RakeFinlandGreatAgain and #RakeNews.
\u201c\u201cIt rains like hell and is cold AF.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/dfXJ86oOHy\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1542598767
\u201cNot on my watch!\n#Rakenews\u201d— Arto Aspfors (@Arto Aspfors) 1542537165
\u201cIn Finland even small kids rake forests.\n#raking #finland #forestrake #rakefinlandgreatagain\u201d— Anders Furu (@Anders Furu) 1542537397
Just this afternoon I was busy meeting my raking quota. #RakeNews #Finland #Haravointi pic.twitter.com/HLaHU0bimO
-- Tarja van Veldhoven (@tarjuccia) November 19, 2018
\u201cMake America Rake Again. #MARA @realDonaldTrump #Finland\u201d— Stephen Sutton (@Stephen Sutton) 1542535570
One Finnish woman posted a photo pretending to vaccuum the forest floor.
"Just an ordinary day in the Finnish forest," she wrote.
\u201cJust an ordinary day in the Finnish forest ~ Ihan normip\u00e4iv\u00e4 suomalaisessa mets\u00e4ss\u00e4 #Trump #forest #firesafety #raking #forestry #Finland #Finnish #CaliforniaFire #RakingAmericaGreatAgain #rakingtheforest #Suomi #haravointi #mets\u00e4palot #rakingleaves\u201d— Pyry Luminen (@Pyry Luminen) 1542550421
The nation of Finland was collectively dumbfounded by U.S. President Donald Trump's claim from the fire-ravaged town of Paradise, California that Finns prevent such devastating wildfires by consistently "raking" the floors of their forests.
Speaking alongside California's outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic governor-elect Gavin Newsom over the weekend, Trump once again attempted to blame the deadliest wildfire in California's history on poor forest management, and declared that Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told him Finns spend "a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don't have any problem."
When Trump was asked in an interview if the human-caused climate crisis--which has contributed to prolonged droughts and high California heat--may have more to do with the devastating fires than insufficient raking, he said no.
\u201cTrump (self-described genius) thinks Finland have fewer forest fires than California because they rake more.\nhttps://t.co/FPvtNeuBHo\u201d— James Felton (@James Felton) 1542488806
In remarks published in a Finnish newspaper on Sunday, Niinisto said he spoke briefly with Trump about forest management when they were both in Paris for Armistice Day events last weekend, but he had no recollection of discussing "raking" as a wildfire prevention practice and laughed when the interviewer asked him about the U.S. president's comments.
"I told him that Finland is a land covered by forests, but we also have a good control system and network," Niinisto said.
Like their president, ordinary Finns were baffled by Trump's comments and quickly took to social media to mock the U.S. president with photos and videos accompanied by hashtags like #RakeFinlandGreatAgain and #RakeNews.
\u201c\u201cIt rains like hell and is cold AF.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/dfXJ86oOHy\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1542598767
\u201cNot on my watch!\n#Rakenews\u201d— Arto Aspfors (@Arto Aspfors) 1542537165
\u201cIn Finland even small kids rake forests.\n#raking #finland #forestrake #rakefinlandgreatagain\u201d— Anders Furu (@Anders Furu) 1542537397
Just this afternoon I was busy meeting my raking quota. #RakeNews #Finland #Haravointi pic.twitter.com/HLaHU0bimO
-- Tarja van Veldhoven (@tarjuccia) November 19, 2018
\u201cMake America Rake Again. #MARA @realDonaldTrump #Finland\u201d— Stephen Sutton (@Stephen Sutton) 1542535570
One Finnish woman posted a photo pretending to vaccuum the forest floor.
"Just an ordinary day in the Finnish forest," she wrote.
\u201cJust an ordinary day in the Finnish forest ~ Ihan normip\u00e4iv\u00e4 suomalaisessa mets\u00e4ss\u00e4 #Trump #forest #firesafety #raking #forestry #Finland #Finnish #CaliforniaFire #RakingAmericaGreatAgain #rakingtheforest #Suomi #haravointi #mets\u00e4palot #rakingleaves\u201d— Pyry Luminen (@Pyry Luminen) 1542550421
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