Kellyanne Conway wants everyone — especially the media — to know that President Trump should not be “seen as the perpetrator” in the aftermath of Saturday's terrorist attack in London and that he definitely does not deserve “some blameworthiness.” 
 
 Huh? Who said otherwise? 
 
 Certainly not “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, who interviewed Conway on Monday. Yet the counselor to the president seemed to imagine an incendiary charge that Trump bore responsibility for the attack just so she could knock it down. 
 
 Call it a highly calculated persecution complex — one designed to make the media seem as outrageous as possible. 
 
 Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor and President Trump's former campaign manager, keeps giving televised interviews that dominate the news cycle – sometimes due to misconstrued facts, or falsehoods. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) 
 
 The “Today” interview began with Guthrie asking Conway whether Trump owes an apology to London Mayor Sadiq Khan after tweeting this: 
 
 At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!" — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017 
 
 Khan's office accused Trump of deliberately taking the mayor's words out of context. Khan had addressed Londoners in a television interview on the morning after the attack and said the following: “You will see an increased police presence today, including armed officers and uniformed officers. There is no reason to be alarmed by this.” 
 
 The mayor clearly meant that Londoners should not be alarmed by the sight of police, but Trump's tweet misleadingly suggested that Khan, who is Muslim, had said there is no reason to be alarmed by the attack itself. 
 
 Conway deflected Guthrie's question and sought to focus on the words of solidarity Trump delivered to British Prime Minister Theresa May in a phone call. Then came this exchange: 
 
 CONWAY: I'm not going to allow, on the day and a half after terrorists did it again — whether they're ISIS-inspired or ISIS-directed, they're savage murderers; it's an evil slaughter, as the president said last — I'm going to not let him be seen as the perpetrator here. For every time you said Russia, imagine of you said ISIS. Every time you say Twitter, imagine if you said terrorist. Maybe we'd have a different type of vigilance. GUTHRIE: But, Kellyanne, in fairness, he's setting the agenda. He's the president. He speaks; the reporters cover what he says. CONWAY: And what did he say to Theresa May? What did he say to Theresa May? GUTHRIE: He did say that to Theresa May, but most of his quotes had to do with either his own political concern, the travel ban, which he's been having four more tweets about that this morning, and a misleading attack on London's mayor. So, my question to you was simply does he owe an apology to London's mayor for quoting him in a misleading and inaccurate way? CONWAY: So, we've got the 23rd ISIS-inspired or -directed attack, taking innocent lives — children in Manchester, children in Nice — and we want to know, we want to put some blameworthiness here on President Trump? I'm just not going to allow it. 
 
 This is a first-rate straw man construction — and it is not a fluke. It is one of the Trump White House's leading media strategies. 
 
 Remember what national security adviser H.R. McMaster said in the White House's first response to a Washington Post report that Trump had divulged of classified information to Russian diplomats? “At no time — at no time — were intelligence sources or methods discussed,” the general said. 
 
 The Post report did not accuse Trump of discussing sources and methods. McMaster (or whoever wrote the statement) invented the accusation so he could deny it. 
 
 Trump did the same thing a week later, during a visit to Israel, when he denied naming Israel as the source of the intelligence he shared with the Russians. 
 
 “Just so you understand, I never mentioned the word or the name Israel,” the president told reporters in Jerusalem. “Never mentioned it during that conversation. They're all saying I did, so you have another story wrong. Never mentioned the word Israel.” 
 
 I'll say it again: No one accused Trump of revealing the source. He created the charge so he could refute it and claim that the media had “another story wrong.” 
 
 The goal, of course, is to promote the idea that journalists, blinded by hate, are making reckless accusations against the president. When there is a dearth of real accusations to push back against, the White House seems willing to make some up. ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201706/1710/1155968404_5460302417001_5460291749001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Conway slams media for 'obsession' with Trump's tweets 
 
 Criticism directed at President Donald Trump over his flurry of Twitter activity related to the London terrorist attack over the weekend is misguided, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said Monday morning, the result of media that she suggested is eagerly critical of Trump, even amid more pressing situations. 
 
 The media, Conway said, has “this obsession with covering everything he says on Twitter and very little of what he does as president.” Conway blamed that obsession for the uproar that began over the weekend when Trump hurled a political attack across the Atlantic, writing online that there had been “at least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’" 
 
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 The quote selected by Trump was a misleading one. London Mayor Sadiq Khan had not downplayed the seriousness of the terrorist attacks but had sought to reassure residents that they should not be alarmed by an increased police presence. In response to the president’s tweet, a spokesman for the mayor said “he has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks.” 
 
 But Conway chafed Monday morning on NBC’s “Today” when asked if the president owes Khan an apology for misleadingly quoting him. 
 
 “I'm not going to allow, a day-and-a-half after terrorists did it again, whether they're ISIS-inspired or ISIS-directed, they're savage murderers, it's an evil slaughter as the president said last night,” the counselor to the president said. “I'm going to not let him be seen as the perpetrator here. For every time you said Russia, imagine if you said ISIS. Every time you say Twitter, imagine if you said terrorist.” 
 
 Conway disputed the notion that Trump’s tweets represent his most relevant remarks on the subject of the weekend’s attacks in London. Instead, she pointed to the president’s repeated interactions with British Prime Minister Theresa May and his remarks at the Ford’s Theatre Annual Gala, where he declared that “this bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end.” 
 
 “So we've got the 23rd ISIS-inspired or -directed attack taking innocent lives, children in Manchester, children in Nice and we want to know — we want to put some blameworthiness here on president Trump?” she continued. “I'm just not going to allow it.” ||||| Police forensic officers work on the road in between Borough Market and London Bridge in London on June 4 as police continue their investigations following the June 3 terror attack. | Getty Trump fires away on Twitter after London attack On Sunday, he tweeted: 'We must stop being politically correct.' 
 
 President Donald Trump on Sunday called for an end to political correctness, suggesting that terrorism “will only get worse” if the U.S. doesn’t “get smart” and reinstate his administration’s travel ban. 
 
 “We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don’t get smart it will only get worse,” the president warned in a tweet Sunday morning. 
 
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 Trump’s initial response to Saturday’s terror attack in London — which claimed seven lives, left dozens more hospitalized and ended with police shooting dead three attackers — urged the courts to reinstate the travel ban. 
 
 “We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!” the president wrote Saturday night, minutes before assuring London and the United Kingdom that the U.S. will do whatever it can to assist in wake of the attack. 
 
 On Sunday, though, the president took a different tack, stoking fears from his personal Twitter account while also criticizing London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, and noting “we are not having a gun debate right now … because they used knives and a truck!” 
 
 Authorities said a white van mounted the pavement on the London Bridge on Saturday night, hitting a number of pedestrians. The van later drove to Borough Market, a venue with many bars and restaurants on the south side of the river Thames and very close to London Bridge. The attackers jumped out of the van and stabbed a number of people but were shot dead by police within eight minutes of the first emergency call. 
 
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 Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, told the BBC that no words could describe the grief and anger London feels. 
 
 “I’m appalled and furious that these cowardly terrorists would deliberately target innocent Londoners and bystanders enjoying their Saturday night. There can be no justification for the acts of these terrorists, and I’m quite clear that we will never let them win, nor will we allow them to cower our city of Londoners,” Khan said. 
 
 He added that Londoners will see an increased police presence over the next few days but said there’s no reason to be alarmed by that. 
 
 Trump, who drew criticism for promoting a Drudge Report tweet that NBC’s “Nightly News” refused to share because “the info is unconfirmed,” mischaracterized Khan’s remark Sunday. 
 
 “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” Trump said. His social media director, Dan Scavino, urged Khan to “WAKE UP!!!!” 
 
 Khan criticized Trump during the U.S. presidential campaign, tweeting in May 2016 that his “ignorant view of Islam could make both our countries less safe” and “risks alienating mainstream Muslims.” 
 
 Later Sunday, Trump spoke at Ford's Theatre in Washington. He offered "unwavering support" to the British while reiterating his determination to put an end to such attacks. "We renew our resolve, stronger than ever before, to protect the United States and its allies from a vile enemy that has waged war on innocent life," the president said, according to pool reports. 
 
 During 2015-16, candidate Trump proposed a “Muslim ban,” but his administration has maintained that its executive order is not a ban on Muslims entering the country but rather a national security directive to keep Americans safe. 
 
 After a rampage at a casino in Manila, Philippines, early Friday, Trump labeled it a terrorist attack. But authorities said the incident was likely a robbery attempt. 
 
 Trump has often tweeted following terrorist attacks. In April, the president wrote that a shooting on Paris’ Champs Elysées “will have a big effect on presidential election.” Authorities said the attack was “likely terrorist-related.” And following an attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Trump called the attacker an “evil loser” during remarks while he was overseas in Bethlehem. 
 
 Trump has asked the Supreme Court to revive his complex and controversial travel ban executive order, which has been repeatedly blocked by lower courts — even after the administration introduced a revised order in March. 
 
 The Justice Department on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to temporarily lift injunctions barring officials from carrying out Trump’s directive to suspend visa issuance to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries and halt the flow of refugees to the U.S. from across the globe. The high court could review the legality of the travel ban this fall. 
 
 Republicans in Congress, however, are skeptical about the fate of the ban. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Sunday that she disagrees with the president’s view that the travel ban needs to be enacted now. 
 
 “I think that the travel ban is too broad, and that is why it has been rejected by the courts,” she told "Face the Nation” on CBS. “The president is right, however, that we need to do a better job of vetting individuals who are coming from war-torn countries into our nation, but I do believe that the very broad ban that he has proposed is not the right way to go.” 
 
 Asked on “Fox News Sunday” whether the Supreme Court would reinstate Trump’s travel ban, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) couldn’t say. 
 
 “I don’t know what the court will decide,” he said. 
 
 Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May by phone on Saturday, according to a readout from the White House, which said the president “offered his condolences” and “praised the heroic response of police and other first responders.” 
 
 May said Saturday that the attack was being treated as a “potential act of terrorism,” which she confirmed on Sunday. 
 
 “We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism, and perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training — and not even as lone attackers radicalized online — but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack,” May said. “We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are.” 
 
 Jeremy Corbyn, head of the opposition Labour Party, refrained from campaigning for this week's election for part of the day, but came out swinging in the evening. He accused May and her government of trying to protect Britain "on the cheap." 
 
 “You cannot protect the public on the cheap," Corbyn said Sunday. "The police and security services must get the resources they need not 20,000 police cutsI" 
 
 The Anne Frank Center, a nonprofit that focuses on civil and human rights activism, condemned Trump’s first response Saturday, tweeting “SHAME ON YOU … for dedicating your first Tweet after tonight's #LondonBridge attack to your immoral #MuslimBan.” 
 
 “Terrorism includes violence that destroys people, as well as prejudice that destroys people's souls. The response cannot be a #MuslimBan,” the center said Sunday. 
 
 James Randerson contributed to this report. ||||| Trump's tweet on Sunday mischaracterized London Mayor Sadiq Khan's comment following the attack on the London Bridge and Borough Market. | Getty Trump intensifies criticism of London mayor on Twitter 
 
 President Donald Trump on Monday escalated his rhetoric toward London Mayor Sadiq Khan, days after a terror attack struck London. 
 
 “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!” Trump tweeted Monday morning. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Saturday’s attack on the London Bridge and Borough Market claimed seven lives and left dozens more hospitalized. Police shot dead three attackers within eight minutes of the first emergency call. 
 
 Khan condemned the attack on Sunday, telling BBC that he’s “appalled and furious” at what the “cowardly terrorists” did. He said there’s no justification for their actions but insisted terrorism will never win. He added that there would be an increased police presence but urged Londoners not to be alarmed by it, prompting a response from the U.S. president. 
 
 “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” Trump tweeted Sunday morning, mischaracterizing the mayor’s comment. 
 
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 Trump’s social media director, Dan Scavino, reupped a tweet from May 2016 — when Khan called Trump’s view of Islam “ignorant” and warned that “[i]t risks alienating mainstream Muslims” — in which Scavino said Trump isn’t being politically correct but making America safe and great again. 
 
 “@MayorofLondon- refer to below tweet 13 months ago, after you criticized … now President @realDonaldTrump --- and WAKE UP!!!!” Scavino wrote Sunday. 
 
 Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, did not respond to the White House’s attack. 
 
 “The Mayor is busy working with the police, emergency services, and the government to coordinate the response to this horrific and cowardly terrorist attack and provide leadership and reassurance to Londoners and visitors to our city,” Khan’s office said in a statement Sunday. “He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks urging Londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police — including armed officers — on the streets.” 
 
 Lewis Lukens, the acting U.S. ambassador to London, broke with Trump on Sunday, tweeting to “commend the strong leadership of the @MayorofLondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack.” 
 
 And when asked about Trump’s weekend tweet, British Prime Minister Theresa May said during a press conference on Monday that Khan was doing a good job following the London Bridge attack and that it was “wrong to say anything else.” 
 
 Trump’s latest tweet came after he conceded that his administration’s executive order temporarily suspending visa issuance to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries is indeed “a TRAVEL BAN!” and blasted his own Justice Department for revising his original order. 
 
 “The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.” Trump tweeted. “In any event we are EXTREME VETTING people coming into the U.S. in order to help keep our country safe. The courts are slow and political!” 
 
 Trump’s aides had once contended that the executive order was not a ban, despite the president’s use of the term. Critics have argued that the ban, which has been held up by the courts, is the same Muslim ban Trump proposed during the campaign.
– President Trump had choice words on Twitter for London Mayor Sadiq Khan following Saturday’s London Bridge terror attack, but senior adviser Kellyanne Conway doesn’t think an apology is needed … from Trump, at least. Instead, Conway blasted the media for its "obsession" over Trump’s tweets, reports Politico, when she was asked by Savannah Guthrie on Today whether the president’s Twitter tirade merited an apology. “I'm going to not let him be seen as the perpetrator here,” said the senior adviser, reports the Washington Post. Conway went on to claim that the media’s coverage of Trump’s tweets redirects blame onto the president. “So, we've got the 23rd ISIS-inspired or -directed attack, taking innocent lives … and we want to know, we want to put some blameworthiness here on President Trump?” she said. “I'm just not going to allow it.” Guthrie’s question stemmed from Trump’s open criticism on social media of Kahn’s message to Londoners: “You will see an increased police presence today, including armed officers and uniformed officers. There is no reason to be alarmed by this.” Critics panned Trump for taking the quote out of context when he wrote, “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'" The president went on to tweet about the importance of US security, referencing the travel ban he’s struggled to implement. Kellyanne Conway's husband George Conway jumped into the fray Monday on Twitter when he wrote that though the president’s posts “may make some ppl feel better,” they won't help in terms of getting the travel ban restored by the Supreme Court, the Washington Post reports. He later clarified that he still supports Trump.