Early Friday morning, the Associated Press reported on a memo they claimed shows Trump administration plans to use thousands of National Guard troops to round up illegal immigrants in cities across the country.
The White House immediately denied the accusation, calling it 100 percent false.
This is not true. DHS also confirms it is 100% false https://t.co/MFIJci7XaU
— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) February 17, 2017
Eventually, AP and Reuters amended their stories, still not fully reflecting context of the memo in question.
AP went from the pictured language to "Trump weighs mobilizing National Guard for immigration roundups" and you all fell for it. pic.twitter.com/BNl2fDBWeR
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 17, 2017
Trump may deploy National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants: AP https://t.co/TxWjxm2BZL
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 17, 2017
No plan to use National Guard for immigration enforcement: White House https://t.co/7qOUCdJ0G8 pic.twitter.com/hOUcX5Ilgn
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 17, 2017
Issues with the piece. (1) Contra headline, tweets there is no support for claim that Trump was involved.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 17, 2017
(2) 100,000 number is not specified in memo. Would be ALL NG in those states, which isn't possible since have to circulate through duty.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 17, 2017
(3) Interpreting "function of immigration officer" in memo to "round up" in AP piece ignores alternate duties, including surveillance.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 17, 2017
(4) AP did not release the memo with the report. Other outlets had to get their own copies before AP would release.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 17, 2017
Regardless, as of 3:31 p.m. ET on Friday the fake news is still trending as the top story on Facebook.
