President-elect Donald Trump is being criticized for a statement connecting migrants to the New Orleans truck attack. The statement Trump made on Truth Social is based on a false report from Fox News that the organization had to retract.
At 10:47 a.m. the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 1, Fox reported that the Ford pickup used in the New Orleans attack was driven into the United States from Mexico two days prior. That claim turned out to be false, and Fox later walked the story back.
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At 10:48 a.m. President-elect Trump posted on Truth Social, “When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before.”
In addition to correcting its own reporting, Fox had to correct the president-elect.
“Now the former president said criminals coming in, in a statement, meaning into our country. But to be clear, Molly and Brian, the suspect was born in the United States, he served in the United States Army, he was a veteran,” Fox News correspondent David Spunt said.
Fox after reading statement from Trump: The former president said criminals coming in in his statement meaning into our country. To be clear, the suspect was born in the United States. He served in the United States army. He was a veteran. pic.twitter.com/H6OeisOeas
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 1, 2025
Fox did not fully retract the story, however. It continued to release speculative comments as to whether the truck may have been connected to human smuggling.
“We understand that the truck does have a history of plate readers. It never actually passed through from Mexico into Eagle Pass,” Fox anchor Julie Banderas said. “However, the license plate on this truck has a history of plate readers at the border in patterns, and I’m quoting, that may be suspicious for human smuggling.”
Fox: It never actually passed through from Mexico into Eagle Pass, however the license plate on this truck has a history of plate readers at the border, in patterns and I'm quoting, that may be suspicious for human smuggling. pic.twitter.com/cc6GtqfaDy
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 1, 2025
When the anchor said that, she left out the fact that the truck was a rental, and there was no evidence to suggest its use in a Texas border city was in any way connected to the attack in New Orleans.
Trump doubled down on the immigrant rhetoric with a post just after midnight on Thursday, Jan. 2.
“This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership. The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job. They are incompetent and corrupt,” Trump wrote.
On Wednesday morning, 14 people were killed and more than 30 were injured when the attacker drove a truck down Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The suspect was a U.S. citizen and Army veteran, and posted a video before the attack saying he was inspired by ISIS.
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