The Fox propaganda network seemed weirdly super amped about the prospect of a potential terrorist crossing into the U.S. through our southern border. The outlet had earlier this week published a piece citing a supposed tip that Texas authorities had caught an “Iranian illegal immigrant on the terror watch list.”
That seems like a big deal that was not confirmed by any reputable sources. Hmm, that seems like a clue. Still, legislative shitheads like Jim Jordan ran with it, tweeting that an “illegal alien from IRAN that was flagged on the TERROR WATCH LIST was arrested,” all caps his own. Jordan’s terrible—and now in an incredibly powerful and influential position as the House Judiciary chair. But that doesn’t mean he’s any closer to exercising caution or restraint. “Who aren’t they catching?” he then wondered aloud. But “they” didn’t even catch who they thought they were catching.
Fox subsequently edited its post to note that, oops!, the guy wasn’t a terrorist after all, according to the Department of Homeland Security. But not before the outlet was “splashing this poor guy's photo across the world,” one observer noted. Nor did Fox issue a correction to its lie.
“This entire story turned out to be a case of mistaken identity,” tweeted American Immigration Council Policy Director Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. “But Fox News ran with it anyway, splashing this poor guy's photo across the world and smearing him as a terrorist. When the truth came out, they stealth-edited the story online, without ANY notice of the correction.”
Reichlin-Melnick noted that the propaganda outlet had apparently even publicized an unredacted photo of the migrant’s passport. “This guy could be fleeing the horrific political situation in Iran and intending to seek asylum,” he noted, pointing to anti-dictatorship protests across that nation. “Now the entire world knows his name—including the Government of Iran back home!”
Even the Libs of TikTok creator got more personal consideration when she was doing her anonymous interviews promoting her hate account, before officially revealing herself on Tucker Carlson’s show.
Nor has Jordan corrected his Feb. 1 tweet. But it’s not like Jordan is interested in fact-checking or anything like that—the Twitter account for the Judiciary Committee earlier this week pitched a fit when a reporter did his job by fact-checking Republican’ lies trying to tie the fentanyl crisis to immigration. The Judiciary Committee account accused The Washington Post of working for Democratic lawmakers. During that same hearing, Republican Dan Bishop apparently tried to get a witness from El Paso to say that cartel control of the United States was imminent.
That witness, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, refused to play along, and instead pushed back against GOP fearmongering, saying the city “is one of the safest communities” in the nation. Is it just me or does it feel like Republicans often root against America?
You know, when disgraced former DHS Secretary Kristjen Nielsen visited Fox, they rolled out the red carpet for her, including a cool “Keeping America Safe” graphic. Think Alejandro Mayorkas would get the same treatment? Of course, in their minds, “keeping America safe” meant kidnapping thousands of brown children from their families. Some would not be reunited for years. Nearly 1,000 remain separated. But Fox would rather not discuss that. It just doesn’t grab the audience the same way as “ZOMG BROWN TERRORIST!!1” But when the opposition party is doing a lot of work stopping illegal activity at the border, all that’s left is to just make it up.