Ahead of making his crowd-thrilling appearance at the Daytona 500 Sunday, President Trump added one more media-slamming post to a series of tweets he’d issued over the weekend hammering one of the central promises of his 2016 election: that he would “build the wall.”
“Last week the Fake News said that a section of our powerful, under construction, Southern Border Wall ‘fell over’, trying to make it sound terrible, except the reason was that the concrete foundation was just poured [and] soaking wet when big winds kicked in. Quickly fixed ‘forever’,” the president wrote Sunday.
Last week the Fake News said that a section of our powerful, under construction, Southern Border Wall “fell over”, trying to make it sound terrible, except the reason was that the concrete foundation was just poured & soaking wet when big winds kicked in. Quickly fixed “forever”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2020
Trump’s slam on the “fake news media” follows a series of reports by left-leaning outlets presenting the fallen wall section in the worst of terms. As The Daily Wire highlighted, headlines and social media posts by CNN, NBC News, HuffPost, NowThis, and AJ+ (Al Jazeera) portrayed the fall without key context:
- CNN: Portion of US border wall in California falls over in high winds and lands on Mexican side
- NBC News: Portions of California border wall wilt and fall into Mexico after high winds
- HuffPost: “Trump’s signature border wall fell over in Mexico from high winds a day after he boasted about the strength of his barrier.”
- AJ+: Part of President Trump’s proposed border wall fell over because of high winds.
- NowThis: “Strong gusts of wind knocked over new sections of Trump’s border wall into Mexico”
But, as Washington Post border reporter Nick Miroff explained to his colleagues in a pair of tweets, while the desire to “dunk on the border wall” was strong in this instance, it was ultimately unfair.
“I get the urge to dunk on the border wall, but this is misleading,” Miroff wrote in the first of the posts. “The panels that fell over in the wind were not anchored yet. You can clearly see that in the photo. And adjacent sections did NOT fall, likely because the concrete base had time to harden.”
“When there are issues, flaws, problems etc with the border wall and its construction, we will continue to cover them,” he assured the Post’s readers. “This incident was not one of those.”
When there are issues, flaws, problems etc with the border wall and its construction, we will continue to cover them. This incident was not one of those.
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) January 30, 2020
The San Diego Union-Tribune provided more details on the fallen wall section:
Several panels of new barrier being installed along the Calexico-Mexicali border were blown down by high winds Wednesday, landing into Mexican territory, U.S. Border Patrol said.
The steel bollard panels, at 30 feet tall, had just been anchored in concrete, which had not yet cured, when the gusts knocked them down late in the morning. According to the National Weather Service, the area reported gusts around 20 to 30 mph around that time.
The failure occurred at a point between the west and east ports of entry, in a congested area of Mexicali. The panels fell onto a road that parallels the border wall. No one was injured and no property was damaged, authorities said.
Trump’s border wall tweet followed a series of border and immigration-themed posts over the weekend.
“Years ago the Democrats had the money to build the Wall, but they didn’t have any idea how to get it done. I am building it bigger and better than ever thought possible!” Trump tweeted Saturday in response to a post by Team Trump highlighting his recent comments on the border: “Democrats supported building THE WALL until President [Trump] supported it. But President Trump didn’t need their support. He got it done anyway!”
“From DAY ONE, President [Trump] fought to give Border Patrol Agents the resources they need. The results have been amazing!” Team Trump posted in another tweet including more footage of Trump’s comments. “Not one more life should be stolen by a Sanctuary City. President [Trump] is calling on Congress to give American citizens the right to sue Sanctuary Cities for damages!”
Years ago the Democrats had the money to build the Wall, but they didn’t have any idea how to get it done. I am building it bigger and better than ever thought possible! https://t.co/VMioZcRPfj
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2020
From DAY ONE, President @realDonaldTrump fought to give Border Patrol Agents the resources they need.
The results have been amazing! pic.twitter.com/j4ATKz50ZO
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) February 14, 2020
Not one more life should be stolen by a Sanctuary City.
President @realDonaldTrump is calling on Congress to give American citizens the right to sue Sanctuary Cities for damages! pic.twitter.com/DqbfmffAnd
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) February 14, 2020