EDITORIAL: Democrats and toxic media at their worst Mischaracterization of Trump remarks serves to divide

April 08-- Apr. 8--The left and its compliant media are willfully reporting false news to the American people. Whether it is a symptom of mass hysteria that is the genesis for this confirmation bias-style reporting or an intentional maneuver to spread anti-Trump propaganda, its effect is toxic and pernicious.

The report comes in the form of a tweet making its way through the Twitter-sphere in which a user named Mark Elliott has posted a video of Donald Trump who he contends is referring to migrants at the border as "animals." Elliott, who has almost 20,000 followers added the comment, "@realDonaldTrump on people asking for asylum "These aren't people. These are animals."

In truth, the video is almost a year old. Last May, during a meeting with the president, Sheriff Margaret Mims of Fresno County, Calif., explained to Trump that she was frustrated over that state's restrictive immigration sanctuary policies.

"There could be an MS-13 member I know about -- if they don't reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it," she told Trump.

"We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in," Trump said of the murderous gang, in response. "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. 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. It's crazy."

The president's words were clearly relating to the murderous gang MS-13 and not innocent migrants. The exchange first became a controversy last year when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi mischaracterized the remarks. "When the president of the United States says about undocumented immigrants, 'These aren't people; these are animals,' you have to wonder: Does he not believe in the spark of divinity, the dignity and worth of every person?"

The New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press all piled on. That was last year but here we go again.

Glenn Thrush of the Times retweeted the post and commented, "These are animals."

MSNBC's Joy Reid posted, "Asylum seekers 'aren't people.' They are 'Animals'. This is particularly frightening language coming out of a person vested with the power of a presidential office."

CNN's Ana Navarro-Cardenas tweeted a picture of a child and wrote, "This little boy is seeking asylum in the United States. His name is William. Trump calls him 'animal.'"

Ben Rhodes, former national security adviser to President Barack Obama tweeted, "If the leader of any other country said this, we would view it as a horrifying, authoritarian assault on human dignity. Which it is."

On and on the list goes. Tweets and retweets of misinformation. Millions of Americans will believe what they have read and look on their neighbors as suspect.

Americans can tweet what they want. Reputable media personnel, however, are entrusted to be the conveyors of truth. They constantly declare their import with screeds about the First Amendment. Those in media who propagated this toxic lie should be fired.

___

(c)2019 the Boston Herald

Visit the Boston Herald at www.bostonherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.