CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta on Thursday misquoted a portion of President Donald Trump’s immigration speech and was quickly met with a fact-check by a Breitbart News reporter.
Speaking in the Rose Garden, President Donald Trump unveiled immigration reform proposals aimed at increasing the quota for skilled workers. During his remarks, the president assailed some asylum seekers’ abuses of the country’s immigration system. “Our nation has a proud history of affording protection to those fleeing government persecutions. Unfortunately, legitimate asylum seekers are being displaced by those lodging frivolous claims,” he said.
Acosta promptly accused the president of portraying all asylum claims as unmerited, misquoting him on social media: “Trump in Rose Garden speech paints asylum seekers with broad brush accusing them of misleading immigration authorities at border: ‘These are frivolous claims.'”
Moments later, Breitbart News White House correspondent Charlie Spiering replied directly to Acosta by sharing President Trump’s full quote, which highlighted that “legitimate asylum seekers are being displaced by those lodging frivolous claims.”
Acosta did not acknowledge that he had misquoted the president after Spiering’s correction.
As Breitbart News’ John Binder reported, foreign nationals seeking asylum in the U.S. evade immediate deportation after claiming credible fear in 88 percent of cases, according to the Department of Justice. Yet, only 50 percent of the foreign nationals who evade immediate deportation by claiming credible fear end up filing for asylum status following there released into the country.
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