President Donald Trump once again took aim at media outlets for mischaracterizing his remarks about MS-13 gang criminals during a Wednesday roundtable.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018
Trump called MS-13 gang criminals “animals” during the discussion. Several media outlets and prominent personalities, however, portrayed the president’s comment as directed against all illegal immigrants.
A tough take down by the California governor after @realDonaldTrump calls people trying to get into the country “animals” not people. https://t.co/LPKiHPJaWZ
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) May 16, 2018
Trump lashed out at undocumented immigrants during a White House meeting, calling those trying to breach the country’s borders “animals” https://t.co/aQNeu29T6e pic.twitter.com/ogrFKaWyDZ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2018
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasted the media for misconstruing the remark saying:
.@PressSec: “If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13, they’re more than welcome to. Frankly, I don’t think the term @POTUS used was strong enough… It took an animal to stab a man 100 times and decapitate him and rip his heart out.” pic.twitter.com/OP4zt1Ibws
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 17, 2018
The president also doubled down on the remarks saying, “When the MS-13 comes in — when the other gang members come into our country — I refer to them as animals. And guess what? I always will.”