After some serious calls to action from the likes of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez following her own visit to the concentration camps at our southern border, a group of Trump administration officials took a tour of the facilities themselves. One of them was Vice President Mike Pence who, proven by actual video footage, witnessed the squalor these people were living in as guards literally wore face masks and one reporter accompanying the group described the smell as “horrendous” — yet Pence continues to essentially write the conditions off as not that bad.
During a segment on Fox News, host Chris Wallace took the opportunity to confront White House official Kellyanne Conway about Trump and Pence’s attempts to seriously understate the deplorable conditions that thousands of migrants are being forced to live in.
Wallace, reading directly from the OIG report as well as showing video footage of Pence’s visit stated,
This was the pool report, ‘Almost 400 men were in cage fences with no cots, the stench was horrendous, some of the men were sleeping on concrete, they began shouting and wanted to tell us they had been in there 40 days or longer.'”
He then attempted to add “I understand…”
To which Conway rudely interrupted, “I was there.”
“I understand that President Trump is trying to stop the flood of people across the border which contributes…” Wallace attempted again.
“We’re also trying to accommodate those who are here,” Conway interrupted yet again.
“… contributes to the overcrowding, but how does it help for the president to minimize the situation and say it’s much better than what they had, or for Vice President Pence, in Kevin Corke’s piece, to say they’re all being well treated when your own…” Wallace tried again, adding “I mean, you can look at the conditions there, it’s a disaster.”
“Well, let me just say a couple of things that are facts. First of all, not every facility is the same,” Conway replied.
“But I’m talking about that one,” the Fox News anchor interjected.
“Okay, well, and I’m talking about the one that the media who were on the same trip with us completely ignored in all of their coverage,” Conway stated, merging into CBP briefings she’d received.
“What do you say about McAllen Texas, Kellyanne?” Wallace questioned, stopping her in her track again.
“What I would say is this. That that facility was meant to be, this is what I was briefed on, that facility was meant to be a 72-hour holding facility,” she replied. “It’s not equipped to keep single males who have broken the law by coming here and were apprehended. If you just want to let them go, then say that we just are open borders.”
Wallace cut Conway off again, “But does it help for the president to say well, they’re really, conditions are pretty good, and for Mike Pence to say they’re pretty good?”
“In plenty of facilities, they have improved, including the one that we saw with the families,” Kellyanne claimed, before attempting to switch to blaming House Democrats until Wallace cut her off again.
“Shouldn’t you be judged on the worst facilities and the worst mistreatment of these people? Shouldn’t you be judged on that?”
“Oh yes,” Conway answered, then told the host that according to CBP briefings, “those men get three hot meals from local restaurants, they now have to access to showers, there were no shower facilities there to accommodate that many people in the past, but there are now. There’s a bank of showers in the back. They have access to deodorant, they have access to hygienic products, they have access to toothbrushes.”
It’s worth noting that in the video footage of Mike Pence’s visit, one prisoner can be seen begging to brush his teeth, mimicking the action with his hands.
Their gaslighting and blatant ignorance of this humanitarian crisis truly knows no bounds.
You can watch the clip here:
Featured image via screen captureÂ
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