Trump Calls Violent Gang MS-13 “Animals”, Mainstream Media Lies and Claims He Was Referring to All Immigrants

Once again, the mainstream media has taken a statement from President Trump out of context, and this time, it is particularly egregious.

Yesterday, during a meeting with sheriffs, Trump said some people coming across the border are “animals” after a Fresno sheriff spoke about illegal immigrants who have been arrested for crimes.

Here’s the clip:

Anyone who actually listens to this clip in its entirety should be able to tell that Trump was talking about the notoriously violent gang MS-13.

(A transcript of the exchange can be found here, for those who want to read it:  In Context: Donald Trump’s comments about immigrants, ‘animals’.)

But that isn’t how many mainstream media outlets reported it.

Instead, they shared a 47-second clip of Trump calling what can be interpreted as all undocumented immigrants as “animals,” and not “people”.

Siraj Hashmi of the Washington Examiner writes,

Instead of reporting the facts, virtually every mainstream media publication and news outlet posted story after story about how Trump was maligning all undocumented immigrants.

The New York Times ran the headline, “Trump Calls Some Unauthorized Immigrants ‘Animals’ in Rant.” In the Washington Post, they ran a story with the headline, “Calling immigrants ‘animals,’ Trump evokes an ugly history of dehumanization.” In USA Today, it’s “Trump ramps up rhetoric on undocumented immigrants: ‘These aren’t people. These are animals.’

Some politicians and journalists lost their minds over Trump’s use of the word “animals” to describe MS-13.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was one of them:

John Harwood, a reporter at CNBC who was exposed by WikiLeaks as favoring Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, also took issue with the term “animals” to describe MS-13.

however repugnant their actions, MS-13 gang members are human beings IMHO

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) May 17, 2018

in theory, yes. but Trump is right on this. https://t.co/9e77ScYSzW

— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) May 17, 2018

Seriously? This is the battle you want to pick, defending MS13 gang members?

— VictoryIsMine (@ccmshields1) May 17, 2018

Human beings are overrated. pic.twitter.com/zIjbXrbRHi

— Jack Montgomery ن (@JackBMontgomery) May 17, 2018

If you’re going to be super technical, Trump is still correct: Human beings are animals. Biological fact, John.

— William McCormick (@WEMcCormick) May 17, 2018

No one is denying that these gang members are, in fact, human beings. The point is that they act like “animals” when engaging in murderous, violent, horrifying ways. There’s nothing wrong with pointing that out. In fact, it’s terrifying so many people are offended by it.

— Justin T. Haskins (@JustinTHaskins) May 17, 2018

Go spend some time in Central America, live in the communities they dominate and see what happens to their foes and people who don’t obey. They get tortured and dismembered. Then express an INFORMED humble opinion.

— Arturo Girona (@ArturoSama) May 17, 2018

Do an image search for “MS-13 decapitations,” then lecture us about them being human.

— M. Adrian Norman (@madriannorman) May 17, 2018

Ok John, are you ok with personally funding them from your paycheck and allowing them to live in your home and your neighborhood?

I’m assuming you’re totally fine with that since they’re just human beings.

— Dozer K. (@DrGreenThumb45) May 17, 2018

Pelosi and Harwood do not seem to understand that by “animals” Trump was using this definition of the word:

“an inhuman person; brutish or beastlike person.”

CNN political analyst Ryan Lizza tweeted an incomplete, out-of-context CSPAN video of the President making the remarks and declared the President was “dehumanizing” MS-13 members:

This is called dehumanization. When people start being seen as rats/roaches/animals very bad things can happen. That an American President made this comment is abhorrent beyond belief. https://t.co/Cy5ANeXsta

— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) May 16, 2018

When can we expect your in-depth “Man on the Street” @CNN piece about the humanity of MS-13, Ry???

— SmirKing Revenge (@InvisibleHand78) May 17, 2018

During a press briefing today, Steven Portnoy of CBS asked White House press secretary Sarah Sanders if Trump believes “some immigrants” are animals.

She minced no words in her response:

Today, during a conference with the head of NATO, a reporter asked Trump to “clarify” his “animals” comment, reports The Daily Caller:

“I’m referring to the MS-13 gangs that are coming in,” Trump immediately responded. “If you look a little bit further on in the tape, you’ll see that.”

“So I’m actually surprised you’re asking this question because most people got it right,” Trump trolled, before doubling down. “MS-13, these are animals.”

“They’re coming into our country. We’re getting them out,” Trump said, “We need strong immigration laws. We have the weakest laws in the entire world. We have laws that are laughed at on immigration.”

Then Trump made his stance very clear, “So when the MS-13 comes in – I referred to them as animals and guess what? I always will.”

Even people who are not big fans of Trump took issue with those who are defending MS-13 and distorting the context of Trump’s “animals” comment. Others pointed out that this is why people don’t trust the media anymore.

Cómo se dice racist? https://t.co/Z8ua4e2BcD

PLUS: Trump calls immigrants “animals” https://t.co/bTGQXEWEDA

An early look at Thursday’s front… pic.twitter.com/arWN3PltuP

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 17, 2018

You know damn well the quote you’re referring to was directed specifically st MS13 gang members. Now you are just lying to readers by misrepresenting it.

— David Dumas (@ThisDaveHere) May 17, 2018

No, guys, he called MS-13 “animals.” This isn’t hard. https://t.co/5z9oA0poQ9

— David Martosko (@dmartosko) May 17, 2018

My distaste for Donald Trump is well-established, but if you’re asking me to choose sides between Trump, on the one hand, and Hamas & MS-13, on the other, that’s not a hard choice.

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) May 17, 2018

He calls MS-13 animals… but you cut out the question to take it out of context and spin it. And you wonder why people don’t trust media outlets. https://t.co/SlkWCPqv8x

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) May 17, 2018

This is a #FakeNews outright #LIE!#LyingPress #FakeNewsMedia#EnemyOfThePeople #Failed4thEstate

President Trump was talking SPECIFICALLY about MS-13 ILLEGAL immigrants… Listen carefully to the first few seconds… pic.twitter.com/WKO8OX0YUj

— Bartholomew Breeder (@Bucky_Breeder) May 17, 2018

Long after it was clear that Trump was talking about MS-13, news organizations continued to inaccurately use the quote to rile up the left.

— M. FISHER (@FmrNCAAPitcher) May 17, 2018

A few independent journalists took the mainstream media to task for their distortion of Trump’s comment:

If you are not familiar with MS-13 and their heinous crimes, take a look at this report and a list of their publicized crimes here.

In his article about the controversy, Hashmi concludes,

And if you still take issue with the fact that Trump called MS-13 “animals,” then do a quick Google search on MS-13 and the crimes they’ve committed. Given their brutality, you might even come to the conclusion that calling them “animals” is a generous characterization.

I’m inclined to agree, Mr. Hashmi.