During an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press, Trump falsely claimed that he inherited the child separation policy from Barack Obama.
Trump falsely blames Obama for his family separation policy
Here is the transcript of the exchange:
Trump again falsely claimed, unchallenged, that he inherited his family separation policy from Obama. Some separations occurred under Obama, but his own "zero-tolerance" policy made them standard. pic.twitter.com/7ixQJ7vGdl
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 23, 2019
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Video of the full Trump interview:
Obama Didn’t Have A Child Separation Policy
Trump has made this false claim before. In April, Trump claimed that former president Obama also had this policy. Trump has been making this claim since 2018, and the AP concluded in a fact check, “Obama did not have a separation policy. The Trump administration didn’t, explicitly, either, but that was the effect of zero tolerance, which meant that anyone caught crossing the border illegally was to be criminally prosecuted, even if they had few or no previous offenses.”
Trump’s zero-tolerance policy still exists, and since the AP fact check was published, the child separation policies have continued. Family separations occurred at a much higher level than previously reported, and thousands of children still have not been reunited with their families.
If Trump’s immigration policy is so popular, why is he lying and blaming Obama?
Trump has decided to run on immigration in 2020, but his policies are so unpopular that he has to lie about them and blame the former president. If Trump’s immigration policies were popular, he wouldn’t need to blame Obama. Even Republicans see that immigration is an anchor around their necks that will sink them in 2020. Donald Trump isn’t trying to govern. He is trying to change America to fit his racist and bigoted beliefs.
The child separation policy is terrible, and it 100% belongs to Donald Trump.
During an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press, Trump falsely claimed that he inherited the child separation policy from Barack Obama.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association