After former President Donald Trump’s speech in Eagle Pass, Texas, CNN’s self-described “fact-check man” Daniel Dale immediately began fact-checking the remarks. Trump and President Joe Biden had made competing visits to the southern border to address the ongoing migrant crisis.
Kaitlan Collins, a CNN correspondent, started the fact-checking segment by pointing out that Trump had made several false statements during his brief speech, including misrepresenting his own past actions on the border. She specifically highlighted Trump’s claim about people from jails and mental institutions being emptied and crossing the border, a statement for which the Trump campaign couldn’t provide any evidence when asked.
Daniel Dale responded by noting that he had asked the Trump campaign for evidence supporting the claim that unnamed foreign leaders were emptying their institutions and sending people as migrants, but they couldn’t provide any proof. Dale dismissed the idea of foreign countries using migrants to assemble an anti-U.S. fighting force, calling it baseless and far-right rhetoric.
Trump’s mention of a supposed new form of crime under President Biden, labeled as “migrant crime,” was also scrutinized by Dale. He clarified that while some undocumented individuals had committed crimes under every president, studies consistently showed that undocumented people, like other immigrants, had lower crime rates than native-born Americans.
Dale addressed Trump’s story about people arriving and speaking unknown languages, pointing out that there was no evidence to support this claim, and it seemed to be fabricated. He also fact-checked Trump’s assertion that migrants might be let in to secure future votes, reminding viewers that undocumented people, like other non-citizens, cannot vote.
Lastly, Dale corrected Trump’s claim that he built 571 miles of wall. The official figures, according to Dale, indicated that only 458 miles had been constructed, with much of it replacing existing barriers rather than covering areas with no previous barriers.
In this fact-checking segment, CNN aimed to correct and clarify several statements made by Trump during his speech at the southern border, providing viewers with a more accurate perspective on the issues discussed.
“He does, Kaitlan, Dale said. “I asked the Trump campaign, what is the evidence that unnamed foreign leaders are emptying out their institutions, their jails, sending people here as migrants? They couldn’t come up with anything.” He continued:
He said that we see columns of fighting-age men. They look like warriors. There’s zero basis, Kaitlan, for this idea that unnamed foreign countries are surreptitiously using migrants to assemble some sort of anti-U.S. fighting force. You hear this on the far right. Even if you think that many migrants are economic migrants rather than true asylum claimants, that’s not an army. It’s just nonsense.
He talked about a supposed new form of crime under President Biden. He says, you know, new “migrant crime.” Look, some undocumented people have committed crimes under every president. Under President Trump, and under President Biden, we have had some high-profile recent tragic cases, but every piece of data, all good studies show that undocumented people, like other immigrants, commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans.
He told the story that he’s told before, Kaitlan, about people arriving, speaking languages that no one’s ever heard. He said in a previous, recent speech, “We didn’t even have one translator who could understand this language.” This, I’ve looked into this, seems to be just conjured out of thin air. It’s nonsense.
He also said that maybe these people are being let in because “they,” presumably the Biden administration, is looking for votes. I think you can make a convoluted case that, you know, one day people could be naturalized, turned into citizens, citizens that could then vote. But I think it’s important to remind people that undocumented people, like other non-citizens, cannot vote at present.
And then, finally, former President Trump, also repeated, his frequent claim that he built 571 miles of wall. We have official figures on that it is 458 miles, much of which, it’s important to note, is replacing barriers that previously existed, not covering parts of the border that had no barriers in the past.
