There have been many, many bad Associated Press “fact checks” lately, but a recent one really shines above the rest. In their eagerness to attack President Donald Trump, they completely misunderstood basic English, assuming he said something very different from what he actually said.

The President said: “California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire spreading!”

The AP responds, “That’s not what state experts say. ‘We have plenty of water’ for battling the massive blazes burning in hills north of San Francisco, said Scott McLean, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.”

At no point in the President’s comments did he specify the water was for directly fighting the fires. Instead, “properly utilized” refers to actually utilizing the water for things like agriculture. At no time does the President specify in this Tweet that items are limited to fire fighting.

This is made clear in the very next quote they have from the President: “Can be used for fires, farming and everything else. Think of California with plenty of Water – Nice! Fast Federal govt. approvals.”

In this Tweet, firefighting is only one of many items, yet the AP acts as if other possibilities do not exist. At no time did they, or any other group attacking the President’s tweets, contact farmers and others who have suffered under California Governor Jerry Brown’s extremist water policies. At no time did they even bother to get anything but a one-sided attack from the fringe left.

The AP has done whatever it can to spread false news. It has entered a stage that is beyond embarrassing. They are akin to a Twitter feed, one step below a blog, and they seem unable to write an article that even comes close to traditional journalism. To be a reporter, you have to understand the situation. That includes understanding what someone says and how they are saying it. The AP refuses to do that, instead publishing propaganda that is easy to see through.

The President is correct in his critique of Governor Brown and his fringe environmental policies. If water from rivers was allowed to be diverted for other uses, including farming, water lawns, and other aspects, then the water will decrease how dry the region is while adding more water into the local water table. It is only common sense, and the only “experts” that disagree on it are the very fringe environmentalists responsible for limiting how much water can be used for human consumption.