Fox News perilously resumes ‘invasion’ drumbeat despite report linking rhetoric to El Paso shooter

Fox News pundit Brad Blakeman on Wednesday said that Republicans should continue referring to an "invasion" of Mexicans even though the same word was adopted by the El Paso shooter.

"Look, we want people to come here, but they need to follow the rules, and they need to come here legally," Blakeman ranted. "We have millions, millions here illegally. Democrats have encouraged many more to come here through sanctuary cities."

"There is an invasion on our southern border," he added. "And the Democrats are trying to weaponize that word. But they claim it's a crisis as well."

The New York Times this week published a report linking the El Paso mass shooter to rhetoric used by top Fox News personalities.

The Times reported:

Before the first groups of Central American migrants received heavy news media coverage in 2018, words like “invaders” or “invasion” were rarely used by American outlets. In the last year, the use of such terms has surged, with references to an immigrant “invasion” appearing on more than 300 Fox News broadcasts. The vast majority of those were spoken by Fox News hosts and guests, but some included clips of Mr. Trump using that language at rallies and other public appearances.

[...]

The El Paso suspect, who confessed to the mass shooting last week, claimed in the document he posted to be defending against a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” The words “invasion” and “invaders” appear six times in the text, a stark parallel to the language heard on conservative television and talk radio today.

Watch the video below from Fox News.