The Justice Department said Thursday that one of President Trump’s judicial nominees did not call immigrants “maggots” in a speech in 2012, and instead was referencing “magnets” that draw immigrants to the U.S.
But before that clarification, a Senate Democrat read a story about the nominee appearing to talk about “maggots,” and said Republicans need to stand up against him when he comes up for a vote.
“All of the Republicans who talk of decency in politics have an opportunity to walk the talk on this one,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, tweeted on Thurdsay. He since deleted the tweet.
The confusion came from a Slate article that highlighted the comments from Michael Truncale, Trump’s nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Slate suggested that Truncale was talking about “maggots,” but corrected its story after the Justice Department said he was talking about “magnets.”
Truncale made the comment during an event while he was running for the seat in Texas’s 14th Congressional District in 2012. Speaking about the U.S.-Mexico border, Truncale said there are “bad influences” coming to the U.S. due to the “porous” nature of the border.
“We have drugs, we have illegal gangs, there is the possibility of bombs from a host of other countries and people from overseas and we must secure that border,” Truncale said.
He then called for border security, whether through fencing or electronic surveillance.
“Of course, we must, with regard to immigration, not continue to have the magnets come in,” Truncale said, according to the Justice Department.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Truncale’s nomination next week.
