On Tuesday morning, correspondents on both CNN and MSNBC delivered a negative spin on the 200 miles of new border wall that has been built so far as President Donald Trump was preparing to publicly inspect some of the newly built wall in Arizona.
While CNN's John Harwood tried to downplay the significance of the new wall by noting that most of it was replacing a barrier that was already there, MSNBC's Jacob Soboroff went in the opposite direction as he predicted that it would have "drastic effects" as it would "force" illegal immigrants to cross into the U.S. in "more dangerous and deadly territory."
At 10:03 a.m. Eastern, after MSNBC Live host Chris Jansing recalled that President Trump was traveling to the border in Arizona to commemorate the building of the 200th mile of wall, she went to Soboroff for his reaction:
JACOB SOBOROFF: This is where much of the new -- and we should be really clear. I mean, I think there's sort of an online conversation about what's replacement wall and what is new wall -- much of the new wall, and, yes, much of it has replaced old wall is here in this part of Arizona. But I think it's a mistake to sort of dismiss that as replacement wall.
He soon lamented:
SOBOROFF:The bottom line is what this wall will do is going to have drastic effects, and it will make border enforcement along the Southwest border much different. It will force migrants -- as has border enforcement strategy along the Southwest border for decades - into more dangerous and deadly territory as they try to cross.
The MSNBC correspondent has a history of blaming the Trump administration for "forcing" migrants to cross the border illegally by not making it easier for them to get into the country.
About an hour earlier, MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle brought up the wall but mocked President Trump for not getting Mexico to pay for it rather than relating any successes to her audience:
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Before the President gets to Phoenix, he's going to visit the border wall, which I feel like we haven't talked about in months. Is that a big selling point for his base? Last I checked, when he was running last time, wasn't Mexico going to pay for it? We've proven in the last three years, they're not.
Over on CNN, appearing at 10:17 a.m. on CNN Newsroom, Harwood dismissively related:
JOHN HARWOOD: So the President, in talking to reporters before getting on Marine One, hailed the 200 miles of border wall that he's going to inspect even though there was already a border barrier on 197 of those miles -- just three miles of new border
Fox News, by contrast, has previously clarified that much of the barrier that the wall has been replacing was in poor condition and had little effect in preventing illegal border crossings, thus making the new wall a significant accomplishment.
Relevant transcripts follow:
MSNBC
MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle
June 23, 2020
9:10 a.m. Eastern
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Before the President gets to Phoenix, he's going to visit the border wall, which I feel like we haven't talked about in months. Is that a big selling point for his base? Last I checked, when he was running last time, wasn't Mexico going to pay for it? We've proven in the last three years, they're not.
(…)
MSNBC
MSNBC Live
June 23, 2020
10:03 a.m. Eastern
CHRIS JANSING: Jacob, I want to go you. I'm so glad you're there -- you're in a place you're so familiar with, that you've done so much work there -- in front of the border wall particularly where President Trump is going to be today, signaling obviously that he is going to make immigration another key issue as he did in 2016. But why there?
JACOB SOBOROFF: Well, Chris, this is where much of the new -- and we should be really clear. I mean, I think there's sort of an online conversation about what's replacement wall and what is new wall -- much of the new wall, and, yes, much of it has replaced old wall is here in this part of Arizona. But I think it's a mistake to sort of dismiss that as replacement wall.
What the President has done -- and they're signaling that this is the 200th mile of new wall or replacing the wall or whatever you want to call it -- the bottom line is what this wall will do is going to have drastic effects, and it will make border enforcement along the Southwest border much different.
It will force migrants -- as has border enforcement strategy along the Southwest border for decades - into more dangerous and deadly territory as they try to cross. And that's something, frankly, that top Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli confirmed to me in a tweet publicly just over the course of the last hour. The President wants everybody to know this -- he wants everybody to be focused on what's happening here at the border.
(...)
CNN
CNN Newsroom
June 23, 2020
10:17 a.m.
JOHN HARWOOD: We saw the President as he was leaving look for things to feel good about after the bitter disappointment of the rally in Tulsa over the weekend. So the President in talking to reporters before getting on Marine One -- hailed the 200 miles of border wall that he's going to inspect even though there was already a border barrier on 197 of those miles -- just three miles of new border
