President Trump stated at a rally in Alabama for Luther Strange that drug smugglers in Mexico are using catapults to launch drugs into the US. The President was making a case for a see-through barrier and described it as such, "they throw it over the wall, they have catapults, but they throw it over the wall and it lands and it hits somebody on the head, they don't even know they're there." He was immediately criticized for this on social media. Here are just a few examples from Twitter:
"No, he did not. Please say he didn't say this? Y'all, he has dementia. Someone needs to get him checked."
"This is painfully delusional."
"No doubt that's about the dumbest thing yet."
But, guess what? He was correct. There have numerous reports of drug smugglers slinging heavy bags of drugs over the fence.
Headline from AZ Central from August 25, 2017:
Border Patrol seizes 100-pound marijuana bundle launched over border fence
"Spokeswoman Stephanie Dixon said drug smugglers are increasingly launching massive bundles of pot over the border fence, posing a danger to nearby residents and businesses because of the weight of the bundles. She said she knew of one incident in which a bundle went through the roof of a dog house."
Source: https://amp.azcentral.com/amp/602697001
Headline from CNN February 15, 2017:
Drug-slinging catapult seized on US-Mexico border
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/15/us/marijuana-catapult-trnd/index.html
This has been going on since at least 2011, as can be seen here in this grainy video posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r65sGnwf5bk
To be fair some of the criticism stems from the fact President Trump said, "and it hits somebody on the head." It is unclear whether that has happened or not. The wording and use of present tense could simply reflect setting up a scenario where it could happen.
