Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims — whose comment prompted President Donald Trump’s response referring to MS-13 gang members as “animals” — called out on Thursday the “unethical reporting” of those who were attempting to mis-characterize the president’s words.
Thank you Ari, the President was addressing my comments in the meeting and it was clearly meant for violent vicious gang members. Unethical reporting should not be excused!
— Margaret Mims (@MargaretMims) May 17, 2018
Mims spoke up, joining former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer in criticizing the media after multiple outlets published the president’s comments absent the context. (RELATED: Journalists Defend ‘Humanity’ Of MS-13 To Smear Trump)
During a Wednesday roundtable meeting with President Trump and other California officials, Mims had complained about the fact that she was barred from reporting even violent gang members to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless their crimes reached a certain “threshold.”
The president responded with the comment that multiple outlets then took out of context — saying, “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” — suggesting that he was referring to all immigrants rather than only MS-13 gang members.
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer then called out several other media outlets, asking if they planned to make corrections.
Good for AP. Now, over to the NYT and @mitchellreports. I hope they also issue corrections. https://t.co/kkEBCzP3iB
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) May 17, 2018
He also pointed out the fact that the president’s comments were nothing new.
On several previous occasions, Trump publicly referred to gang members as “animals”. He’s never referred to illegal immigrants with that word. His previous language should have been a clue, but some things are too good to check. Hostility + sensationalism = bad reporting.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) May 17, 2018
During Thursday’s White House press briefing, current press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders doubled down on the president’s words. “That term doesn’t go far enough.” (RELATED: Sarah Sanders Doubles Down On Trump’s MS-13 ‘Animals’ Comment)
This Sarah Sanders on Trump calling MS-13 “animals:”
“That term doesn’t go far enough and I think 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.”
*Spikes football* pic.twitter.com/g33EaR0Jfm
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) May 17, 2018