Media giant Sinclair Broadcast Group has reportedly released a new “must run” segment that balks at the caravan of migrants attempting to apply for asylum in the U.S. and applauds U.S. officials for using force against them.
According to Media Matters, the segment features Sinclair chief political analyst Boris Epshteyn, also a former aide to President Donald Trump, saying, “The fact of the matter is that this is an attempted invasion of our country. Period.”
He accused migrants of attacking U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents with rocks and bottles, explaining that they responded with tear gas only to “stop the attacks.”
He continued by decrying how people on the left don’t think it right to “defend our country and abide by the rule of law.”
The segment will reportedly be aired on about 100 Sinclair owned or operated news stations. The network is the largest U.S. owner of local TV stations by number of outlets.
Hundreds of migrants protested the closure of one of the largest American legal ports of entry from the Mexican city of Tijuana on Sunday, and border guards responded with tear gas after several people attempt to breach the border fencing.
“We ran, but when you run the gas asphyxiates you more,” Honduran Ana Zuniga told the Associated Press.
Trump tried to argue that three border guards were “very badly hurt” in the melée despite the CBP commissioner previously asserting that no agents were badly injured.
Agents were required to use force, Trump added, “because they were being rushed by some very tough people and they used tear gas.” He also said the tear gas was “very safe” and the people suffering from its effects “to a certain extent were the people that were putting it out there.”
Thousands of migrants are sheltering in a sports complex in Tijuana. Their timeline for legally entering the U.S. and applying for asylum has been delayed since the Trump administration limited the number of applications it processes daily and has decided, on days like Sunday, to close primary ports of entry.
It’s not the first time that Sinclair has pushed a “must-run” segment upon its stations. In April, the company demanded that local anchors record statements bashing mainstream media. It has also accused CNN of “dishonesty and hypocrisy.”