Steve Ronnebeck called out the media during a Friday afternoon White House event hosted by President Donald Trump, telling cameras and law enforcement gathered that he wished the media had the integrity that the President and other administration officials have.
The lack of media coverage of these families’ stories was among the topics that the families lamented from the podium. Steve Ronnebeck, father of slain young American Grant Ronnebeck. praised Acting ICE Director Tom Homan, who had given him a challenge coin that day, calling the gesture a “sign of integrity.”
“I wish some of our media had the same integrity as our President and our Vice President, Director Homan, all of you in law enforcement,” said Ronnebeck. He thanked the President, Vice President, law enforcement, and the staff of the DHS office VOICE.
Ronnebeck said that 63,000 Americans have been killed by illegal aliens since the 9/11 terror attacks.
President Trump slammed the media during a Wednesday evening rally in Minnesota for not covering victims of illegal immigration.
“The media never talks about the American victims of illegal immigration,” Trump said to the thousands of rallygoers. “I know them well. I know so many of them. I campaigned with them. What’s happened to their children.? What’s happened to their husbands? What’s happened to their wives?”
“The media doesn’t talk about the American families permanently separated from their loved ones because Democrat policies released violent criminals into our communities,” he said, eliciting boos from the crowd, apparently aimed at the media. “We need safety. We need safety.”
Breitbart News has reported on multiple events, like the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime, where event organizers gave media outlets notice, yet no other media outlets showed up.
Then-candidate Trump first held a meeting in Los Angeles with victim “angel” families in July 2015. After a private meeting he brought the families before a podium where major media outlets were gathered to cover him. After Trump gave brief remarks, he turned the podium over to the families to tell their stories of loss in their own words.
Trump allowed many of the families gathered on stage with him Friday to tell their stories as Ronnebeck did. The President lauded the actions of the DHS VOICE office that assists Americans who have been harmed by illegal alien crime.
“Our first duty and our highest loyalty is to the citizens of the United States,” said Trump. “We want safety in our country. We want border security. We don’t want people in our country that don’t go through a process.”
“We want people to come in, but we want them to come in the proper way,” said Trump. He turned to the families, thanking them with the message, “Your loved ones have not died in vain. Much of what we’re doing today is because of what you’ve had to endure.”
The Friday afternoon event followed a meeting with Trump and the angel families in the Oval Office.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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