Fox News' Shep Smith and CNN's Anderson Cooper muster facts against Trump's immigration 'gaslighting'


President Trump is "patting himself on the back for taking action regarding a situation he himself created" on the border, and the White House is "still not owning up to it — the gaslighting continues," Anderson Cooper said on CNN Monday night. And on top of separating families, he added, Trump now "seems to want to take away due process for undocumented immigrants entirely."
"The White House can blame past administrations or blame Congress, but that doesn't change the fact that it was this administration's 'zero tolerance' policy that led to the separation of thousands of children from their parents," Cooper said. Trump didn't create the current laws, but "it was this administration's choice to enforce them in a way no other president has. Now caught in the middle of this confusion, chaos, of course, are real people, real children, and the major question is what happens to them now?"
On Fox News Monday, anchor Shepard Smith, returning from 10 days of vacation, said that "seeing the pictures of these children in cages, and knowing that we can't see all of the realities inside these facilities, you know, you wonder, is there a rule anywhere that what the government is doing of, by, and for the people should be transparent and seeable by the people?" He was asking University of Memphis law professor Steven Mulroy, who wasn't sure but said migrant parents unable to regularly communicate with their separated kids probably have standing to sue Trump, as would any parent deported without due process.
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.
"Just a matter of fact here," Smith said, "the United States government is at this moment holding young children — as young as infants, we're told by the government — alone, separate from their parents, in conditions about which we have no information, in places to which we have no access, and from which no pictures have been shown to the public. That's the fact." Watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified files
Speed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DC
Speed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operations
Speed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rules
Speed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Act
speed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in Venezuela
Speed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young Republicans
Speed Read Leaders of Young Republican groups made racist, antisemitic and violent comments in private chats
-
Trump ties $20B Argentina bailout to Milei votes
speed read Trump will boost Argentina’s economy — if the country’s right-wing president wins upcoming elections