MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace used a Tuesday tweet to walk back a Monday on-air statement implying that President Donald Trump had called for the “extermination of Latinos.”
“I misspoke about Trump calling for an extermination of Latinos,” Wallace tweeted. “My mistake was unintentional and I’m sorry. Trump’s constant assault on people of color and his use of the word ‘invasion’ to describe the flow of immigrants is intentional and constant.”
I misspoke about Trump calling for an extermination of Latinos. My mistake was unintentional and I’m sorry. Trump’s constant assault on people of color and his use of the word “invasion” to describe the flow of immigrants is intentional and constant.
— Nicolle Wallace (@NicolleDWallace) August 7, 2019
Wallace’s Monday “Deadline: White House” comments came during a conversation with CNN contributor Raul Reyes about Trump’s perceived attitude towards the Hispanic community.
Reyes told Wallace that Trump has “basically declared open-season on Latinos because we are one of his favorite targets.”
“Then ramped it up again to the invasion, warning people of a caravan and words like infestation,” Reyes added. “What do you do with an infestation? With an infestation, the natural conclusion is attempt an extermination.” (RELATED: ‘Latinos For Trump’ Launching In Miami One Day Before Dem Debates)
Playing off her guest’s comments, Wallace opined:
“What do you do when, certainly, the last Republican president fought for, sought and it’s not ideal but had 44% of Latino voters. So politically powerful inside the last Republican administration. President Obama used the power of the presidency to try to pass comprehensive immigration reform, with the Latino community, Latino leaders, at the table. You now have a president, as you said, talking about exterminating Latinos.”
Wallace drew plenty of blowback for her insinuation:
MSNBC might want to walk this back. holy shit https://t.co/8VoiaQslnF
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) August 7, 2019
Nicolle Wallace: Trump Is ‘Talking About Exterminating Latinos’
.@NicolleDWallace should issue an apology and retract this statement. https://t.co/zPZ2WfPcGY
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) August 6, 2019
Perhaps Nicolle Wallace should watch her rhetoric. For all the talk she and her colleagues offer up about how the President’s a dictator, using the word “exterminate” takes matters to another level and is truly the kind of rhetoric that’s unacceptable https://t.co/JwNCsVB7W0
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 6, 2019
Wallace’s apology came after Newsbusters flagged the comments in a Tuesday article:
This apology comes after her comments were first flagged by @NewsBusters‘s own @markfinkelstein in a post added earlier today: https://t.co/lObX6H5I1O https://t.co/rMATsnF4HA
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 7, 2019