CNN attempted to fact-check a Trump administration official in real-time during a briefing at the White House Wednesday afternoon when it posted a chyron that called the spokesperson’s statement “misleading.”
“Trump Admin Touts Misleading Stats to Link Terror, Immigration,” stated the banner at the bottom of the live coverage.
Live on-screen fact-check: pic.twitter.com/SRbLpD8Dpu
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 17, 2018
The chryon was posted as the Justice Department’s principal deputy assistant attorney general, Ed O’Callaghan, talked to reporters.
O’Callaghan had been briefing reporters about Tuesday’s new report, which concluded 3-in-4 individuals convicted of international terrorism-related charges in U.S. federal courts over the past 15 years were foreign-born.
“According to a list maintained by the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, at least 549 individuals were convicted of international terrorism-related charges in U.S. federal courts between Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2016. Of the 549 individuals, 402 were foreign-born — that’s 73 percent,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen told the Senate Judiciary Committee in her opening statement Tuesday morning.
The findings came from “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” which was mandated by President Trump’s Executive Order 13780.
The new report also concludes the Department of Homeland Security encountered 2,554 individuals on the terrorist watch list who attempted to travel to the U.S. in fiscal year 2017.
CNN and President Trump have had a complicated relationship over the past year. Trump has berated the outlet as “fake news” in tweets and through his White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.
The White House may release its “Fake News Awards” on Wednesday, which CNN is likely to win due to its longstanding strained relationship with the administration.
