White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted on Sunday morning to further the lie that thousands of terrorists have been stopped trying to cross the the southern border of the United States. But Fox News’ Chris Wallace was ready.
The Fox News Sunday host played a clip of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen claiming that her agency has stopped over 3,000 “special interest aliens”—anyone who comes from a country that has ever produced a terrorist—”trying to come into the country on the southern border,” and informed that press secretary that President Trump’s own State Department has found “no credible evidence” of any terrorists coming across the border from Mexico.
But Sanders doubled down, saying, “We know that roughly, nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists come into our country illegally and we know that our most vulnerable point of entry is at our southern border.”
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“Wait, wait, wait,” Wallace said, stopping her there. “Because, I know the statistic. I didn’t know if you were going to use it, but I studied up on this. Do you know where those 4,000 people come—where they are captured? Airports.”
As Sanders replied, “Not always,” Wallace interjected and repeated, “Airports,” adding,“The State Department says there hasn’t been any terrorists that they’ve found coming across the southern border with Mexico.”
“It’s by air, it’s by land, it’s by sea, it’s all of the above,” Sanders replied, “but one thing that you’re forgetting is at the most vulnerable point of entry that we have into this country is our southern border. And we have to protect it.”
“But they’re not coming across the southern border, Sarah, they’re coming and they’re being stopped at airports,” Wallace said once again.
Ultimately, Sanders told him, “I’m not disagreeing with you that they’re coming through airports,” before pivoting to say, “the more and more that our border becomes vulnerable and the less and less that we spend time and money protecting it, the more that we’re going to have an influx, not just of terrorists, but of human traffickers, drug inflow and people who are coming here to do American citizens harm.”
A few of hours later, Brian Stelter showed the clip of the exchange on his CNN show Reliable Sources, and declared, “All I want to say is, thank you Chris Wallace.”
