Timothy Buchanan
Trump truth or fake news – who can be trusted?
By Timothy Buchanan
ABC News – that bastion of honesty and journalistic integrity – is at it again. This time, using Jonathan Karl as their sacrificial goat, the network is openly committing libel by accusing President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence of making false statements about the positions of past presidents on the need for strong border security, the number of terrorists entering the United States from Mexico, and the height of the wall around Obama's domestic Washington fortress.
It's fascinating to watch so-called journalists behaving as servile attack dogs for the Democrat party, but this has become the nature of American politics today. Since the New York Times and the Huffington Post have both published articles making similar accusations, it's reasonable to assume some sort of collusion may be involved (with the Russians, no doubt). Nevertheless, former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton have all advocated tough positions on illegal immigration.
As a U.S. Senator, Barack Obama gave a speech in 2006 in which he said, "Those who enter the country illegally and those who employ them disrespect the rule of law, and they are showing disregard for those who are following the law. We simply cannot allow people to pour into the U.S. undetected, undocumented, and unchecked." Today, however, Mr. Obama has no comment.
Former president George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorized the construction of 700 miles of double fencing along the southern border. The law spawned bizarre challenges from environmental radicals who invoked exaggerated predictions of damage to "endangered wildlife migration" – mainly impacting certain species of toads and frogs.
As president, Bill Clinton promoted tough immigration restrictions as well. In his 1996 State of the Union message to Congress, Clinton said, "After years of neglect, this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders." He went on to say, "We should honor every legal immigrant here, working hard to become a new citizen. But we are a nation of laws."
Former president George H.W. Bush passed away in 2018, but because he had an established record of taking bold action to protect the United States, there is no reason to believe that he would have opposed a secure border. Therefore, ABC's Jonathan Karl must be wrong.
ABC and Jonathan Karl accused President Trump of lying in statements that 4,000 terrorists have attempted to enter the country through the porous U.S. border with Mexico. On ABC's Good Morning America, Vice President Mike Pence stated, "nearly 4000 known or suspected terrorists attempted entry into the United States last year." Karl denied the Vice President's claim. However, publicly available data from 2017 indicates that 3775 suspects were stopped.
While we cannot verify the precise number from available data, it's important to remember that President Trump has full access to classified national security information. ABC's Jonathan Karl does not. It is not unlikely from historical patterns that if 3700 potential terrorists are apprehended at border checkpoints or at airports, the real number of terrorists who gain entry is even higher. Therefore, ABC and Jonathan Karl have no evidence with which to uphold their malicious accusation.
Jonathan Karl has also accused President Trump of lying about the 10-foot wall that surrounds the Washington, DC, home of former president Barack Hussein Obama. An outspoken critic of President Trump's promise of a border wall, former President Obama has demonstrated hypocrisy that Trump has mentioned on numerous occasions. Obama opposes a wall along the Mexican border to protect the American people, but protects his own home and family with one.
President Trump has mentioned the 10-foot defensive wall that surrounds the castle-like home many times. The combination wall and fence is ten-feet high and can easily be seen in numerous public photographs. The fact that the barrier is not solid from ground to height does not make Trump's statement false, but it does reveal the length to which fake news outlets will go to in their desperate effort to smear a lawful and legitimate president whom they detest.
America's news media has become more devoted to influencing public policy through distortion, deception, and false reporting than to presenting honest and truthful information, and in this post-truth era, some people will ultimately believe what they choose to believe.
The public deserves to know the truth about the grave threat to national security that a porous border presents. But we now must make extra efforts to obtain reliable and truthful information on our own.
© Timothy Buchanan
January 8, 2019
ABC News – that bastion of honesty and journalistic integrity – is at it again. This time, using Jonathan Karl as their sacrificial goat, the network is openly committing libel by accusing President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence of making false statements about the positions of past presidents on the need for strong border security, the number of terrorists entering the United States from Mexico, and the height of the wall around Obama's domestic Washington fortress.
It's fascinating to watch so-called journalists behaving as servile attack dogs for the Democrat party, but this has become the nature of American politics today. Since the New York Times and the Huffington Post have both published articles making similar accusations, it's reasonable to assume some sort of collusion may be involved (with the Russians, no doubt). Nevertheless, former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton have all advocated tough positions on illegal immigration.
As a U.S. Senator, Barack Obama gave a speech in 2006 in which he said, "Those who enter the country illegally and those who employ them disrespect the rule of law, and they are showing disregard for those who are following the law. We simply cannot allow people to pour into the U.S. undetected, undocumented, and unchecked." Today, however, Mr. Obama has no comment.
Former president George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorized the construction of 700 miles of double fencing along the southern border. The law spawned bizarre challenges from environmental radicals who invoked exaggerated predictions of damage to "endangered wildlife migration" – mainly impacting certain species of toads and frogs.
As president, Bill Clinton promoted tough immigration restrictions as well. In his 1996 State of the Union message to Congress, Clinton said, "After years of neglect, this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders." He went on to say, "We should honor every legal immigrant here, working hard to become a new citizen. But we are a nation of laws."
Former president George H.W. Bush passed away in 2018, but because he had an established record of taking bold action to protect the United States, there is no reason to believe that he would have opposed a secure border. Therefore, ABC's Jonathan Karl must be wrong.
ABC and Jonathan Karl accused President Trump of lying in statements that 4,000 terrorists have attempted to enter the country through the porous U.S. border with Mexico. On ABC's Good Morning America, Vice President Mike Pence stated, "nearly 4000 known or suspected terrorists attempted entry into the United States last year." Karl denied the Vice President's claim. However, publicly available data from 2017 indicates that 3775 suspects were stopped.
While we cannot verify the precise number from available data, it's important to remember that President Trump has full access to classified national security information. ABC's Jonathan Karl does not. It is not unlikely from historical patterns that if 3700 potential terrorists are apprehended at border checkpoints or at airports, the real number of terrorists who gain entry is even higher. Therefore, ABC and Jonathan Karl have no evidence with which to uphold their malicious accusation.
Jonathan Karl has also accused President Trump of lying about the 10-foot wall that surrounds the Washington, DC, home of former president Barack Hussein Obama. An outspoken critic of President Trump's promise of a border wall, former President Obama has demonstrated hypocrisy that Trump has mentioned on numerous occasions. Obama opposes a wall along the Mexican border to protect the American people, but protects his own home and family with one.
President Trump has mentioned the 10-foot defensive wall that surrounds the castle-like home many times. The combination wall and fence is ten-feet high and can easily be seen in numerous public photographs. The fact that the barrier is not solid from ground to height does not make Trump's statement false, but it does reveal the length to which fake news outlets will go to in their desperate effort to smear a lawful and legitimate president whom they detest.
America's news media has become more devoted to influencing public policy through distortion, deception, and false reporting than to presenting honest and truthful information, and in this post-truth era, some people will ultimately believe what they choose to believe.
The public deserves to know the truth about the grave threat to national security that a porous border presents. But we now must make extra efforts to obtain reliable and truthful information on our own.
© Timothy Buchanan
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
