Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Tuesday he is concerned that one of President Trump’s advisers are “drastically misinforming” him.
During a CNN appearance, Manchin was asked if he was worried the president will “lie” to the American people during his prime-time address to the nation on border security set to take place at 9 p.m. ET.
“I am concerned that someone is totally misinforming, and you never want to think that your president would lie or people of high positions that we depend on for day-to-day operations of the government and for the protection of our lives would ever lie to us,” Manchin said. “Someone is drastically misinforming him, and I would find out who that person is, and fire them.”
.@jimsciutto: “Are you concerned that the President will lie to the American people tonight?”
Dem. @Sen_JoeManchin: “Someone is drastically misinforming him, and I would find out who that person is and fire him.” https://t.co/j11RJXY4DJ pic.twitter.com/ye0oCt4a75
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) January 8, 2019
Manchin didn’t offer any speculation about who he thought is misleading Trump, but the question he was answering had to do with a viral moment over the weekend in which White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was fact-checked by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace about her claim that about 4,000 known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border.
[Related: Kellyanne Conway: Sarah Sanders made an ‘unfortunate misstatement’]
Critics are concerned that the Trump administration might be misleading Americans to bolster support for the president’s demand for border wall funding — a point of contention with Democrats that led to a partial government shutdown.
A senior administration official told CNN that government data shows only 12 known or suspected terrorists were caught at the border between October 2017 and October 2018.
