BORDER/IMMIGRATION/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “Moments after President Trump concluded his Oval Office remarks on border security on Tuesday [1-8-19], the NBC anchor Chuck Todd came on air with a blunt assessment. ‘He made a lot of dubious claims,’ Mr. Todd informed millions of viewers after the network’s scheduled program — a new episode of an Ellen DeGeneres-hosted game show — had been pre-empted for a rare prime-time presidential appearance. Shepard Smith, on the Fox network, told viewers that contrary to Mr. Trump’s assertions, ‘statistics show there is less violent crime by the undocumented immigrant population than by the general population.’ And on ABC, the White House correspondent Cecilia Vega took issue with Mr. Trump’s depiction of a southern border in crisis. ‘Just because you say it’s a crisis,’ Ms. Vega said, ‘doesn’t necessarily make it one.’”
–Michael M. Grynbaum, “Anchors Scramble to Fact-Check Trump After Prime-Time Address,” The New York Times online, January 8, 2019