Fox's Kevin Corke gave Donald Trump an assist this evening by suggesting a declaration of national emergency during tomorrow's State of the Union address would be justified – while ignoring the recent testimony of Pentagon officials indicating otherwise.
Last week, Pentagon officials made it clear to Congress, they don’t see a national security threat at the border. Yet Corke, supposedly an objective correspondent, didn’t mention that when he talked up the possibility that Trump will declare, during the State of the Union, an (unpopular) national emergency in order to build his (unpopular) wall (that Mexico was supposed to pay for).
Corke began by noting that the State of the Union is “obviously coming at a time of great disunity here in the nation’s capital, especially over the wall and the funding of the wall.” Following a brief detour about the leak of Trump’s slacker schedule to Axios, Corke returned to the upcoming address and the question of a national emergency.
CORKE: What’s less obvious is whether or not the president plans to declare a national state of emergency during his State of the Union address tomorrow night at the Capitol, especially with an increasingly desperate situation along the southern border as more migrant caravans are thought to be preparing to head toward the U.S., including one with thousands that’s already thought to be within 500 miles of Texas.
After painting that alarming picture, Corke played a clip of Trump saying a “strong border” is needed and that means a physical barrier and a wall. Next, Corke all but announced that Trump would be justified in declaring a national emergency to build that wall.
CORKE: He’s got the power to do it, say White House officials, because of the 1976 National Emergencies Act which specifically gives the president sweeping authority to declare an “immigration emergency” to deal with an influx of aliens which is “beyond the existing capabilities” of immigration authorities in affected areas.
Corke was being too cute by half in this report because he conflated the “increasingly desperate situation” with some kind of hostile invasion of immigrants. In fact, the real crisis at the border is humanitarian and not solved by a wall. But you probably won’t hear much, if anything, about that from Corke.
Watch the propaganda below, from the February 4, 2019 Special Report.