WATCH: Viral video claims to show ‘Trump’s border wall’ COLLAPSE under the wrath of Hurricane Hanna
A section of the US-Mexico border wall in Texas allegedly failed to withstand the power of nature, according to a viral video. While its authenticity has been questioned, the clip sent President Trump’s critics into overdrive.
A viral video purportedly showing a partial collapse of the border fence between the United States and Mexico was widely shared online on Sunday. While it was not immediately clear where it was recorded and which segment of the fence was affected, several local journalists and media reports indicated the incident happened somewhere between Texas and the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas as the storm battered the region.
El #Muro se derrumba. La tormenta tropical “Hanna” y sus fuertes vientos derriban una parte del muro fronterizo entre Tamaulipas y Texas. pic.twitter.com/Ruezueg6sl
— Jenaro Villamil (@jenarovillamil) July 26, 2020
The original source of the video is unclear. One of the early posts by Yadith Valdez, featuring a 39-second clip, got thousands of shares and ironic responses, but was deleted without explanation. However, many other users, including verified journalists, shared longer 44- and 59-second versions.
Tómala. El paso de Hanna derriba parte del muro fronterizo entre Texas y Tamaulipas. Detalles: https://t.co/ywUo7Laj1Ipic.twitter.com/70GnHiTNYJ
— Joaquín López-Dóriga (@lopezdoriga) July 26, 2020
Many questions were raised about the authenticity of the video, with some noting that the terrain did not look like the lower Rio Grande Valley, speculating that the incident might have happened elsewhere or on a different date. A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, Roderick Kise, told the Caller Times that he had doubts the footage was from South Texas, but was checking with authorities in Washington.
We’ll try to get to bottom of this tomorrow. Clearly a portion of wall under construction was knocked down by storm somewhere— just unclear if this was Hanna or a previous event like the one in El Centro in January https://t.co/m7yoXzSKgw
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) July 27, 2020
Nevertheless, the US president’s numerous critics rejoiced, sharing the clip and mocking the alleged incident as divine intervention and an omen of an imminent collapse of the Trump administration.
If this isn’t 2020 in a nutshell....
— Ricky Smith (@Rickonia) July 26, 2020
Earlier this month, a privately built section of the border wall in South Texas was criticized for being located too close to the Rio Grande river and already showing signs of erosion just months after going up.
The trump administration in a nutshell. https://t.co/oBOrVwGC55
— Blue Mama (@WontGetFooled) July 26, 2020
Trump at the time distanced himself from that particular private initiative, even though his administration reportedly awarded the builder a $1.7 billion contract to construct more walls.
Guess the wall is on brand with Trump steaks and Trump casino and Trump university. Only taxpayers paid for this flimsy POS. https://t.co/0J4usTqwJL
— Randi Person Woman Man Camera TV Singer (@rmayemsinger) July 27, 2020
“I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads… Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles,” Trump tweeted back on July 13.
Also on rt.com ‘Make New Mexico pay for it!’ Twitter baffled after Trump vows to build wall in ColoradoIt was only done to make me look bad, and perhsps (sic) it now doesn’t even work.
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