Fox & Friends Parrots Ridiculously Inaccurate Trump Stat on Asylum Seekers

In a White House speech on immigration Thursday, President Donald Trump made the claim that only three percent of migrants show up for their court date after been apprehended and then admitted into the U.S. — pending the court hearing. The claim turned out false. Dramatically so, in fact. But that didn’t stop Fox & Friends from repeating it.

During the Friday broadcast of the Fox News morning show, guest co-host Pete Hegseth alluded to the erroneous stat.

“In the past, when you were released, only a small fraction after that actually show up for their hearings,” Hegseth said.

And then co-host Ainsley Earhardt quantified it.

“Correct,” Earhardt said. “It’s just two percent.”

“That’s right,” Hegseth said. “Very low.”

That’s actually wrong.

As flagged by eagle-eyed Trump fact-checker Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star, it’s much closer to three percent who don’t show up, not three percent who do. According to Justice Department statistics, 89 percent of asylum seekers appeared for their hearings in 2017. In each of the three years before that, the number topped 90 percent.

Watch above, via Fox News.

[featured image via screengrab]

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