Favoring semantics to solutions, a New York Times fact-check of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “aged like milk in the Eagle Pass summer” after Biden administration officials supported the statesman.
“It is wrong.”
Real time fact-checks can bust a narrative but, as then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) experienced in 2012 with debate moderator Candy Crowley, that doesn’t make them correct. Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin showed exactly how misleading they could be as he decimated a claim from the Times with reference to remarks from DeSantis.
Thursday, Melugin brought up a Nov. 8 fact-check from the newspaper made during the GOP presidential debate in Miami after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently confirmed reports of an Al Shabaab terrorist who’d entered the country illegally.
“NYT ‘fact check’ aged like milk in the Eagle Pass summer,” wrote the correspondent to a screenshot from the Times that cited DeSantis as saying, “If you look at the threats that we face, terrorists have come in through our southern border.”
The Times wrote, “This is false. Since 1975, no one has been killed or injured in a terrorist attack in the United States that involved someone who came across the border illegally, according to Alex Nowrasteh, the vice president for economic and social policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.”
NYT “fact check” aged like milk in the Eagle Pass summer. pic.twitter.com/ZiYvtavmBs
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 1, 2024
Nowrasteh attempted to defend the original claim Friday by parsing what it means to be on the watchlist, “Bill claims this NYT factcheck is wrong. The Somali on the watchlist who was apprehended didn’t kill, injure, or commit an attack before being apprehended. All we know is he was on the watchlist, which doesn’t mean much. How is the NYT factcheck wrong?”
Since he asked, Melugin explained, “It is wrong.”
“The NYT fact check declared DeSantis’ claim that terrorists have come across the southern border as ‘false’. His claim said nothing about people being killed or injured, that was just the red herring statement you offered on behalf of Cato Institute,” he slammed. “NYT fact checked something he didn’t even say.”
“ICE confirmed that a known Al Shabaab terrorist who was ‘involved in the use, manufacture or transport of explosives or firearms’ crossed the border illegally last year and was roaming the U.S. for nearly a year before he was matched to a terror watchlist and rearrested in Minneapolis,” continued the award-winning national correspondent. “He crossed 8 months before the NYT fact check — which declared that no terror threats had crossed. Apart from that, there have been over 1.8 million known getaways and hundreds of people on the FBI terror watchlist arrested by BP for crossing illegally.”
“The NYT fact check was highly questionable at the time, and now it’s been proven wrong by the Biden admin’s ICE,” concluded Melugin.
It is wrong.
The NYT fact check declared DeSantis’ claim that terrorists have come across the southern border as “false”.
His claim said nothing about people being killed or injured, that was just the red herring statement you offered on behalf of Cato Institute. NYT fact… https://t.co/lKvjeXvzm1
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 3, 2024
Still, Nowrasteh defended his point again and again, responding to the pile-on with posts like, “If he’s a terrorist, he’ll be charged with a terrorism-related offense. Being on the watchlist doesn’t mean you’re a terrorist. Where are the charges?”
If he’s a terrorist, he’ll be charged with a terrorism-related offense. Being on the watchlist doesn’t mean you’re a terrorist. Where are the charges?
— The Alex Nowrasteh (@AlexNowrasteh) February 3, 2024
Meanwhile, DeSantis plowed ahead with action to address the crisis and Texas’ latest action toward that end has he had announced the deployment of approximately 1,000 members from the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard to support the nearly 100 law enforcement officials from the Sunshine State already at the border.
“States have every right to defend their sovereignty and we are pleased to increase our support to Texas as the Lone Star State works to stop the invasion across the border,” said America’s Governor. “Our reinforcements will help Texas to add additional barriers, including razor wire along the border. We don’t have a country if we don’t have a border.”
Governor Ron DeSantis Sends Additional Support to Help Texas Fortify the Border https://t.co/1Kgn5akRl7
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 1, 2024
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
- Starbucks execs say Seattle is a keeper, but their real estate search in Tennessee says another - March 18, 2026
- Chief Justice Roberts takes shot at Trump after nuclear hot blast at SCOTUS, judges - March 18, 2026
- Democrat hack cuts CNBC clip out of context and the spin is shameless, as usual - March 18, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.