CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale stunned host Anderson Cooper with an efficient fact-check of a pro-Trump Republican’s attack on “illegal invaders” who turned out to be a more innocuous group.
On Wednesday, self-identified “Trump-endorsed” Michigan State Rep. Matt Maddock posted photos with the message “Happening right now. Three busses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro. Anyone have any idea where they’re headed with their police escort?”
On Thursday night’s edition of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, Dale dispensed with the false attack in record time, revealing the buses were actually there for March Madness:
COOPER: CNN’s Daniel Dale joins us, keeping him honest with a fact check and the March Madness tie-in. So what is going on here, Daniel?
DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: What’s going on, Anderson, is that this claim about illegal invaders is completely made up. It is absolute fiction. And the airplane and three buses seen in Mr. Maddock’s tweet there were actually used by NCAA men’s college basketball teams that were landing at Detroit’s airport to play in, as you said, March Madness.
So let me walk you through how social media users, including me, solve this extremely easy to solve non-mystery. If you go back to that tweet by Mr. Maddock, you’ll see that the plane pictured there is an Allegiant airplane. And if you go to online flight tracking sites, you’ll see there was only one Allegiant Air flight that landed at Detroit’s airport.
It was a charter flight from Spokane, Washington. So why would there be a charter flight from Spokane, Washington? Well, as people on social media figured out, the Gonzaga University Bulldogs, who are playing Purdue tomorrow night in Detroit, are located in Spokane, Washington. And then, if you go to Gonzaga’s men’s basketball Twitter page or X page, you’ll see a photo they posted themselves of them boarding their flight on that Allegiant plane to Detroit.
So I contacted a spokesperson for the Gonzaga team. They’re like, yes, we took an Allegiant plane. We landed in Detroit. Yes, there were buses waiting. Yes, we got a police escort. I contacted the local — the county airport’s authority that runs this Detroit airport. They said, yes, these buses were for NCAA basketball teams and their traveling parties.
So, in summary, Anderson, nothing happened here. Like, sports teams arrived at the city where they were going to play their sport —
COOPER: Right.
DALE: — the end, but somehow a lawmaker turned this into an immigration scandal on social media.
COOPER: So I hesitate to even ask, but what is this legislator’s response now that we know more of the facts? Is he backing down?
DALE: He is calling people “kommies” who — so he is a —
COOPER: Yes.
DALE: — Trumpy — Trump endorsed and quite Trumpian lawmaker, who has done such things to try to —
COOPER: “Kommies,” it’s so original. I mean —
DALE: Kommies with a K, the K is original. So he’s —
COOPER: OK.
DALE: — done things like try to overturn the 2020 election, promoted Covid misinformation. And so people said, hey, this is probably NCAA basketball teams landing in Detroit. He said, you know, you’re kommie. Thanks, kommie.
And then he expanded on that today after fact checks had come out saying, you know, the fake news won’t investigate, illegals arriving in our cities, so citizens have to investigate. But I have to say, if this is his citizen investigation, I don’t think he’s going to be hired for too many private investigator jobs anytime soon.
COOPER: And he’s an actual legislator, like an actual person?
DALE: He’s an actual — he’s a state representative in the state of Michigan, elected official indeed.
COOPER: Wow! Daniel Dale, God bless you. How long did that take you, Daniel, all those calls?
DALE: A — very little time — I mean, you know, it took an hour or so to write, but to actually figure out what happened, a few minutes.
COOPER: It took an hour or so to write. Yes.
DALE: Yes.
COOPER: A few minutes, wow, to do. Daniel Dale, amazing! Thank you. Appreciate it.