In a land and time not so far away, millions of Americans lived in blissful ignorance, unaware of mundane stuff like which cabinet members flew on private planes, or how often the president golfed on the weekends, or how the children of illegal immigrants were cared for. I call these halcyon days, “The Obama Administration.” Few of our now-woke friends on the Left gave nary a thought to the plight of minors who were here illegally for whatever reason (either brought by their parents or traveling alone) between 2009 and 2017.
But this is just one of a gazillion policies that now outrages the former residents of Obama’s Pleasant Valley Sunday cul de sac. Since the Trump Administration that announced adults who cross the border illegally will be arrested- and their children will therefore be separated from them – the Left is in meltdown mode. Trump haters apparently are unhappy that the president is reversing Obama’s policy of housing immigrant families together in two-bedroom suites at the local Ritz-Carlton. (Kidding, obviously. Even the Washington Post admitted, “at the peak of the 2014 child-immigrations crisis, the Obama administration used [military] bases to house more than 7,000 children.)
Many took to Twitter to vent their fury, reposting an article on azcentral.com that showed photos of immigrant children being housed in federal facilities. Children were shown sleeping on the floor, some in cages, partially covered with foil blankets. Journalists, celebrities, activists and Democratic politicians seized on the photos as evidence of the Trump Administration’s inhumanity:
https://twitter.com/roarquette/status/1000850485002276864?s=11
Take a look at these photos. #WhereAreOurChildren https://t.co/OZRG6YIXJB
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) May 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1000791238864404480?s=11
But there was one tiny problem: The photos were from 2014.
Then the back peddling began.
Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau owned up to it, but still tried to spin it favorably for his former boss:
https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1000820848922693638?s=11
CNN reporter Hadas Gold deleted her first tweet, which she claimed showed the “first photos of separated migrant children at holding facility.” When Gold was corrected about the date, she tweeted:
Deleted previous tweet because gave impression of recent photos (they’re from 2014)
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) May 27, 2018
Jake Silverstein, editor of New York Times Magazine, also deleted his first tweet that called the photos “disturbing” and “awful,” blaming his family for the oversight but still managing to blame Trump:
Correction: this link, which was going around this morning, is from 2014. Still disturbing, of course, but only indirectly related to current situation. My bad (and a good reminder not to RT things while distracted w family on the weekend). https://t.co/zbM4I0woUF
— Jake Silverstein (@jakesilverstein) May 27, 2018
Antonio Villaraigosa, Democratic candidate for California governor, deleted his tweet that claimed he was “speechless” about the photos: “This is not who we are as a nation.” (Pssst. We are.)
Never one to miss a trolling opportunity, President Trump today called their bluff:
Democrats mistakenly tweet 2014 pictures from Obama’s term showing children from the Border in steel cages. They thought it was recent pictures in order to make us look bad, but backfires. Dems must agree to Wall and new Border Protection for good of country…Bipartisan Bill!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2018
Trump foes might be able to delete their tweets—they can’t delete facts and history. But it is fun to watch them try.