Shepard Smith Rebuts ‘Fox & Friends’ Report of ‘Unknown Middle Easterners’ in Migrant Caravan (Video)

“An important note: Fox News knows of no evidence to suggest the president is accurate on that matter”

Fox News host Shepard Smith refuted a claim floated by his own network Monday that ISIS fighters had infiltrated the “caravan” of thousands of migrants en route to the U.S.-Mexican border, an unverified claim that was later echoed by President Trump in a tweet.

“President Trump is calling the caravan a national emergency,” Smith said. “And he’s claiming criminals and unknown alleged Middle Easterners are mixed in with the crowd. An important note: Fox News knows of no evidence to suggest the president is accurate on that matter. And the president has offered no evidence to support what he has said.”

“Women, children, and men from Central America have been walking for days now,” Smith continued. “They say they’re escaping violence and poverty in their home countries. Some are expected to seek asylum in the United States as prescribed by law; others are simply demonstrating, trying to attract attention to the plight of residents in their home country.”

Earlier on Monday, “Fox & Friends” host Pete Hegseth said on the air that the president of Guatemala told a local newspaper that “over 100 ISIS fighters” had been caught in Guatemala “trying to use this caravan.”

“You’ve got the president of Guatemala saying to a local newspaper down there just last week they caught over 100 ISIS fighters in Guatemala trying to use this caravan… he talked to their local newspaper. We don’t know. It hasn’t been verified. But even one poison pill is too many in a caravan like that,” Hegseth said.

Less than two hours later, President Trump repeated that theory in a tweet:

Watch Shep’s video above (courtesy of Media Matters) and Pete Hegseth below.

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