Fox News' Shep Smith swiftly fact-checks Trump's claim that wall construction is underway
Early on Tuesday, President Trump expressed that he was not happy with the preliminary bipartisan deal in place to avoid another government shutdown. But he also added that he was "thrilled" with where things were going overall and that "the bottom line is we're building a lot of wall."
Fox News anchor Shep Smith quickly dismantled this notion, reminding viewers that the president has "been saying this for a while now, but it's simply not true." Instead, Smith said that workers "have replaced and repaired sections of the existing wall and fences, but so far they have not built anything new."
He added that the new deal — if it passes through Congress and the president signs it — "could create 55 miles of new fencing and border," but no wall. Smith did say that there is "some wiggle room" in the new deal "that could allow the president to add more money for his proposed wall and more money for detaining people."
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Smith also fact-checked Trump's declaration at his rally in El Paso on Monday evening that the city's wall "turned a violent city safe." Smith pointed out that violent crime was at a historically low level in the Texas city when Congress authorized the El Paso section of steel fence in 2006. Watch Smith's full debunking at Mediaite.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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