The video went viral on Twitter. It shows a section of the border wall falling to the ground. It immediately became widespread ridicule as social media users compared the wall-collapse to Trump’s re-election campaign.
MEXICO-US BORDER (Debate) – A viral video allegedly shows a section of the border wall between the US and Mexico collapsing under strong winds and heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hanna.
The video posted to Twitter by journalist Yadith Valdez shows construction workers standing by and watching as fierce gusts knock the steel structure to the ground.
The clip became the target of widespread ridicule on social media as critics likened the section’s collapse to the re-election campaign of President Donald Trump. He has already spent more than $11billion building the wall expected to cost an estimated $21.6 billion to complete.
Even nature is against .@realDonaldTrump !#BorderWall (actually a Bollard Fence).#VoteTrumpOut #VoteThemAllOut pic.twitter.com/pFDlVQDt87
— Hispanic Citizen 🥑 (@US_Latino) July 26, 2020
Some users pointed out that just a few weeks ago, Trump boasted that his wall is ‘the most powerful and comprehensive border wall structure’ in the world.
But other users called the validity of the footage into question, noting that it is unclear when and where it was recorded. Mexican news outlet Debate claimed in an article that the video was filmed at a section of the wall dividing Texas from Ciudad Camargo in the state of Tamaulipas.
However, Washington Post reporter Nick Miroff refuted that report in a tweet, saying that Customs and Border Patrol officials told him the video was not recorded in the Rio Grande Valley.
The video being widely shared of border wall panels falling over is not from RGV, a CBP official tells me. Unclear where it was filmed, but based on desert terrain, daytime recording and style of bollards, I’m guessing these are images of a monsoon out west, prob Arizona.
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) July 26, 2020
‘Unclear where it was filmed, but based on desert terrain, daytime recording, and style of bollards, I’m guessing these are images of a monsoon out west, prob Arizona,’ Miroff wrote.
Regardless of questions over the origin of the video, Trump critics and social media had a field day with jokes about the collapse. Best-selling author Rick Wilson tweeted: ‘I have a Trump wall joke, but it blows.’
I have a Trump wall joke but it blows.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 26, 2020
A man tweeted in response to Wilson: ‘I have a trump wall joke, but I know it will fall flat.’
“I have a joke about Trump erections, but it’s over before you even knew it started” a third person wrote.
https://twitter.com/MMcNett/status/1287508776648507392
Another critic added: ‘I hope the Trump Wall is still under warranty. I’d hate to see Mexico have to pay for it a second time.’
