If there’s one thing that President Donald Trump has defined himself with while in office, it’s obsession with “border security.” He rose to national prominence in part via promises to build a wall between the United States and Mexico — and although that hasn’t manifested, he’s now claiming that the media is using inappropriately aged footage of the border that doesn’t show the reinforcement his administration has put in place.
Alongside a photo of a barbed wire coated barrier, the president ranted on Twitter:
‘The Fake News is showing old footage of people climbing over our Ocean Area Fence. This is what it really looks like – no climbers anymore under our Administration!’
The Fake News is showing old footage of people climbing over our Ocean Area Fence. This is what it really looks like – no climbers anymore under our Administration! pic.twitter.com/CD4ltRePML
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2018
He’s literally denying reality because “Ooo look over here at the barbed wire!”
Last week, migrants hoping to make it into the U.S. were filmed successfully scaling the border fence south of San Diego, California. There’s not any question about that. The footage was taken last week — but Trump is calling it “Fake news” and “old.”
The migrants in question were some of those who the president had characterized as an invading force — his words — having traveled through Central America seeking asylum in the U.S. Prior to the midterm elections that recently concluded, these caravans were a major GOP talking point as Republican leaders sought to rile up their base enough to get them to the polls.
In recent weeks, the administration sent well over 10,000 active duty members of the U.S. military to the border to beef up their security efforts in the face of the migrants, with the president having long sounded an alarm about the supposed big strong men and “incredible climbers” aiming to make their way to the United States.
The soldiers laid barbed wire along the border — and now the president wants us to believe the wild and false claimed threats he put forward have suddenly dissipated to the point of denying actual reality.
It’s all wild, really.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
