Last Thursday, BuzzFeed News national security correspondent Adolfo Flores published a report on "a huge caravan of Central Americans" headed toward the U.S. that "no one in Mexico dares to stop." If you read down far enough, you'd see that not everyone in the caravan is "planning on crossing into the United States undetected," and some "are hoping to get their families to other parts of Mexico." The same day, Breitbart News posted a less sensationalized report on the same group of migrants and asylum-seekers, written by Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby, the head of Breitbart Texas.
The story of the "vast horde of migrants" made its "dark turn through the conservative news media" to Fox & Friends and President Trump's Twitter feed, The New York Times reports. On Wednesday night, Trump signed a hastily compiled memo directing the National Guard to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border, apparently spooked by "the big Caravan of People from Honduras."
"The coverage became so distorted that it prompted a reporter for Breitbart News," Darby, "to push back," Jeremy Peters writes at the Times.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Darby — who runs Breitbart's Texas bureau like a quasi-independent fiefdom and tends to shoot straight on border issues — told Peters that caravans are pretty common ways for migrants to travel through Mexico, for safety and strength. "The caravan isn't something that's a unique event," Darby said. "And I think people are looking at it wrong. If you're upset at the situation, it's easier to be mad at the migrant than it is to be mad at the political leaders on both sides who won't change the laws."
You can read more about the politicization of the caravan at The New York Times.
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump lambasts crime, but his administration is cutting gun violence preventionThe Explainer The DOJ has canceled at least $500 million in public safety grants
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
