President Trump late Thursday joined dozens of other conservatives in mocking Jim Acosta, claiming the CNN reporter and Trump antagonist had helped the president make his argument that border walls work.
Acosta was ridiculed for much of the day, after he stood next to a steel-slat border wall in Texas and said he saw no sign of any immigration problem. Conservatives jumped on the tweet and thanked him for making the point that border walls tend to deter illegal entrants.
Trump jumped in late Thursday by retweeting Acosta and adding “Dear Diary…” at the beginning. Conservatives have retweeted Acosta this way in the past to mock him.
[Read more: Border Patrol agents to Jim Acosta: Try the border at night]
Dear Diary… https://t.co/NAuMaQW6fl
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2019
“The steel slats don’t run the entire length of the border in the McAllen area,” wrote Acosta in his tweet. “We found one part where there is a chain link fence. Occasionally migrants come thru but residents say their community is quite safe.”
Border Patrol agents have told the Washington Examiner during previous tours to the southern border that the majority of barrier on the international boundary runs east and west a few miles from established border crossings. Most of the barrier is erected in those areas because it’s where agents have reported the most illegal crossings.
In December, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced a series of new wall projects in the Rio Grande Valley.
Nielsen said the security fencing in the Rio Grande zone will see “major improvements” over the next year because its security has become a priority for the department due to increased illegal crossings there.
“We actually have about 55 miles around this area. It’s noncontiguous,” Nielsen said. “So the 28 miles that we are prioritizing will actually fill in the gaps.”
