Trump On His 'Animals' Remark: 'Fake News Got It Purposely Wrong'
- 6 years ago
President Trump on Friday slammed the media over coverage of his recent remarks.
President Trump on Friday slammed the media for its response to his recent "animals" remark.
"Fake News Media had me calling Immigrants, or Illegal Immigrants, 'Animals.' Wrong! They were begrudgingly forced to withdraw their stories. I referred to MS 13 Gang Members as 'Animals,' a big difference - and so true. Fake News got it purposely wrong, as usual!" Trump tweeted.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also criticized the media during Thursday's press briefing. When the topic was raised, Sanders stated, "The president was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter the country illegally and whose deportations are hamstrung by our laws."
"This is one of the most vicious and deadly gangs that operate by the motto of rape, control and kill," she further commented. "If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13, they're more than welcome to...I don't think the term that the president used was strong enough." She went on the describe a number of appalling acts connected to the gang, then said, "Frankly, I think that the term animal doesn't go far enough and I think that the president should continue to use his platform and everything he can do under the law to stop these types of horrible, horrible, disgusting people." Trump made the comment in question on Wednesday during a roundtable discussion with California officials who oppose the state's sanctuary laws. It came after a sheriff's general description of the frustrations caused by the thresholds state and federal laws say must be passed before ICE can get involved. She finished with, "There could be an MS-13 member I know about — if they don't reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it." Trump replied, "We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we're stopping a lot of them — but we're taking people out of the country."
"You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals," the president further noted. "And we're taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that's never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out."
Fox News was quick to assert, "anti-Trump media organizations conveniently took his comments out of context to make it appear that he was talking about illegal immigrants." However, a number of the outlets did qualify the president's remarks by mentioning he was referring to "some" immigrants.
President Trump on Friday slammed the media for its response to his recent "animals" remark.
"Fake News Media had me calling Immigrants, or Illegal Immigrants, 'Animals.' Wrong! They were begrudgingly forced to withdraw their stories. I referred to MS 13 Gang Members as 'Animals,' a big difference - and so true. Fake News got it purposely wrong, as usual!" Trump tweeted.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also criticized the media during Thursday's press briefing. When the topic was raised, Sanders stated, "The president was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter the country illegally and whose deportations are hamstrung by our laws."
"This is one of the most vicious and deadly gangs that operate by the motto of rape, control and kill," she further commented. "If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13, they're more than welcome to...I don't think the term that the president used was strong enough." She went on the describe a number of appalling acts connected to the gang, then said, "Frankly, I think that the term animal doesn't go far enough and I think that the president should continue to use his platform and everything he can do under the law to stop these types of horrible, horrible, disgusting people." Trump made the comment in question on Wednesday during a roundtable discussion with California officials who oppose the state's sanctuary laws. It came after a sheriff's general description of the frustrations caused by the thresholds state and federal laws say must be passed before ICE can get involved. She finished with, "There could be an MS-13 member I know about — if they don't reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it." Trump replied, "We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we're stopping a lot of them — but we're taking people out of the country."
"You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals," the president further noted. "And we're taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that's never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out."
Fox News was quick to assert, "anti-Trump media organizations conveniently took his comments out of context to make it appear that he was talking about illegal immigrants." However, a number of the outlets did qualify the president's remarks by mentioning he was referring to "some" immigrants.