Holy guacamole! Media concern over potential avocado crisis if President Trump shuts down Mexico border
As the White House warns of the national security threat at the southern border, some media outlets report on the impact on avocado lovers. Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway reacts to the coverage.
Mollie Hemingway, Fox News Contributor and senior editor at "The Federalist," argued media concern over a potential avocado crisis if President Trump shuts down the Mexico border shows “how unserious” the media is about the “very big issue.”
According to the latest data from the United States Department of Agriculture, about half of all imported U.S. vegetables and 40 percent of imported fruit are grown in Mexico. Americans would run out of avocados in three weeks if imports from Mexico were stopped.
TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON THREAT TO CLOSE THE BORDER: 'THIS IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY!'
“Some people when they look at our border crisis they’re worried about rule of law, they’re worried about national sovereignty, they’re worried about a humanitarian crisis or the drugs that are flowing over the border and those are very serious concerns,” Hemingway said on Fox & Friends Wednesday.
“Also, the economic impact from a possible shutdown is serious, but when the media focuses on whether they are going to get their breakfast with avocado toast instead of these bigger pressing issues, it just shows how unserious they are of this very big issue.”
On Wednesday, Trump tweeted: "Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the Border! If no action, Border, or large sections of Border, will close. This is a National Emergency!"
He also stood by the threat Tuesday, warning he was still open to closing the border but did acknowledge that Mexico had "made a big difference" and had increased its efforts to stop Central Americans from traveling north.
"We're going to have a strong border or we're going to have a closed border," the president told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. "We're going to see what happens."
According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, closing the border completely would disrupt manufacturing supply lines and the flow of goods ranging from avocados to cars, making for a "potentially catastrophic economic impact."
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The president brushed off concerns Tuesday about what impact shutting down the border would have on the economy, saying that national security was more important.
“There are so many people flowing over the border, there are so many people flowing across the parts of the border that are not currently guarded, that they need to shut down the ports of entry to monitor those areas and also the flow of drugs there,” Hemingway said on "Fox & Friends."
“The other issue is that sometimes you want to have a little bit of hurt so that people are incentivized to do something about the situation.”
She added: “Facing economic consequences for not taking this problem seriously or not doing enough to stop it, is one of the ways that you can make people care more about it.”
On Friday, Trump threatened to close the border this week if Mexico doesn’t stop the flows of illegal immigration into the U.S. The threat came after new numbers showed that more than 76,000 migrants were detained in February -- the highest number of apprehensions in 12 years. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said that the border was at its “breaking point.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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