Former DNC Chairman and Pennslyvania Gov. Ed Rendell asserted Tuesday night that the caravan currently heading to the U.S. border is a “made-up” problem.
Rendell made the comments during an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, alleging that Trump’s immigration stance is a turn-off for voters.
“The president said it was his tone, he should tone things down. That’s absolutely right,” Rendell claimed. “He shouldn’t be talking about a made-up caravan.”
The comment was so absurd, Baier had to chime in and remind viewers that the caravan is quite real and it is a problem. “Well, it’s not a made-up caravan,” he said. “There’s actually a caravan. And there are several of them.”
Rendell went off on a tangent about the potential illegal migrants carrying smallpox and leprosy, something the president has never stated. The Fox News host attempted to steer him back to this first misstatement. “No, you just said ‘a made-up caravan,’” Baier said. “There is a caravan and it is an issue.”
“It’s an issue,” Rendell retorted. “But only an issue in President Trump’s mind.”
Isn’t this the moment where the media are supposed to come out and fact-check Rendell right within the headline? Shouldn’t headlines all over read “Former DNC Chair, Without Evidence, Suggests Caravan Doesn’t Exist.”
No, the caravan is tangible, and so is he threat, with reports of infiltration by individuals from the Middle East or MS-13, not to mention profiles of migrants accused of serious crimes.
Apparently having accepted the fact that the caravan is real, Rendell pivoted to the argument that the migrants aren’t trying to come into the country illegally, which is also pure fiction. “These people are not trying to get in America illegally,” he stated. “They’re seeking asylum, which has always been the right of people all over the world.”
But they have to pass through specified ports of entry.
“It’s a law Congress passed,” DHS Secretary Nielsen explained in her testimony to the same body. “So those people need to come to the ports if they want to seek asylum.” If they don’t, they’re “trying to get in America illegally,” despite Rendell’s best efforts to convince people otherwise.
Perhaps the former governor should stick to insightful campaign commentary such as his observation that Hillary Clinton would win in 2016 because “there are probably more ugly women in America than attractive women.”
Cross posted at the Mental Recession
