Fake News: Biden on People in Cages.
This story is from a few years ago on September 12th, 2019 during one of the Democratic debates, the then Democrat candidate Joe Biden had made a claim stating that the Obama administration didn’t lock up any illegal immigrants and keep them held in cages. This was his initial response to a question he was asked about comparing Trump’s administration to the previous administration. This was around the time the photos of children in cages were being shown on the news claiming they were taken during Trump’s administration. Although, the Trump administration used the cages to hold illegal immigrants so did the Obama administration.
After searching for this story there was a myriad of articles on this subject, mainly because it’s over a year old. Most of the articles, and also fact-checking sites such as politifact.com. According to Politifact the statement that Biden had made was to move the subject away from the Obama administration and to keep the focus on the policies and the things that the Trump administration was doing with illegal immigrants. The reason why this question had been asked during the debate was because of a photo that had circulated by the mainstream media showing illegal immigrant children being held inside a cage at a border facility in 2018. It goes on to say that the photo was actually from the year 2014, which was during the Obama administration. The reason why this photo was used was to slander Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy. That policy resulted in the separation of families at the border in these facilities.
The claim that Biden had made has been easily refuted by many news sources. One of the news sources was Theepochtimes.com. In the article, it explains “Deputy Commissioner Robert Perez debunked a claim by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden..” Later in the article, it talks about a Fox News anchor Julie Banderas talking about how the narrative about the Obama administration not putting people in cages was being pushed by the Democratic party. This was broadcasted on Sept 13th, the day after the debate. Banderas had asked Perez about the cages and when they were built. He answered “…a border security crisis that evolved into a humanitarian crisis have been present through several administrations. Not just the last two.” In his statement here he explains that it wasn’t only Trump who had used those facilities but also the administrations that came before him also did. Which makes Biden’s claim false.
The news media can be used to bring the truth to the viewers, but it can also be used to spread disinformation. This can lead to people spreading misinformation and continue the spread of a false narrative. Thankfully there are websites dedicated to fact-checking and refuting “fake news”. Hopefully, in the future, there will be fewer of these types of articles being spread around as fact.
Works Cited
Kan, Janita. “CBP Deputy Commissioner Debunks Biden’s Claim That Obama Administration ‘Didn’t Lock People up in Cages.’” Www.Theepochtimes.Com, The Epoch Times, 14 Sept. 2019, www.theepochtimes.com/cbp-deputy-commission-debunks-bidens-claim-that-obama-administration-didnt-lock-people-up-in-cages_3080983.html?welcomeuser=1.
Valverde, Miriam. “PolitiFact — Fact-Checking Biden on Use of Cages for Immigrants during Obama Administration.” @politifact, 19 Sept. 2019, www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/sep/13/joe-biden/fact-checking-biden-use-cages-during-obama-adminis.
Pictures used
Funt, Peter. “Debate Flub Fest: When Will Democrats Start Judging Joe Biden by His Actual Words?” USA TODAY, USA Today, 16 Sept. 2019, eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/09/15/joe-biden-messed-up-in-debate-democrats-must-pay-attention-column/2324839001.
Flaherty, Woodward, Anne, Calvin. “AP FACT CHECK: 2014 Photo Wrongly Used to Hit Trump Policies.” AP NEWS, AP News, 30 May 2018, apnews.com/article/a98f26f7c9424b44b7fa927ea1acd4d4.