The Associated Press had a tweet recently about the thousands-strong caravan in Mexico that’s headed for the U.S. border:
.@AP’s @AP_Politics deleted this tweet ? pic.twitter.com/p0gQbuBBWE
— Mike P Williams ? (@Mike_P_Williams) October 22, 2018
The AP soon retreated after blowback:
We have deleted a tweet about the migrant caravan moving through Central America and Mexico because it lacked context. A new tweet will be posted shortly.
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) October 22, 2018
That deletion came a couple hours after Soledad O’Brien was among those slamming the AP’s word choice:
Hey @AP —it’s not an army. Really inappropriate to call it as such. Do better. https://t.co/uu40KFCunN
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) October 21, 2018
In other words, O’Brien’s calling “fake news” on the AP? We thought that was a no-no these days. In any case, what word would be acceptable?
How about a mob? https://t.co/IlzW5qfHRC
— The Morning Spew (@TheMorningSpew) October 22, 2018
Call it an invasion force instead. https://t.co/KmKKJjn0Nk
— Pete Kidder ? (@PeteKidder) October 22, 2018
Ha! We doubt those would have made her happier with the headline.
Blue on blue spat. Lol ? https://t.co/eTkkL34Z0n
— Will Davis (@willpdavis) October 22, 2018
For many, that was one of those times the AP came close to getting it right:
A large group of people headed to the border of a country while waving the flag of the country they left…kinda sounds like an army to me….
— David Marksberry (@DavidMarksberry) October 22, 2018
So a group of non citizens marching towards a sovereign nation they are not citizens of trying to infiltrate their borders illegally? Sounds like an army.
— i_am_never_trending (@jgodfrey634) October 22, 2018
What is it, then? I mean, it can’t be a mob, because those are racist.
Is it a pod? A pack? A murder? The collective? https://t.co/miLwx5fhzx
— Mulder's Shroom Ride (@proteinwisdom) October 22, 2018
Other "inappropriate" uses of the word army that Soledad strangely did not take issue with:
"Obamacare Expert and Her Army of Women Volunteers Could Flip This Red District" https://t.co/k302hMJGya
Shannon Watts' "army of women" for gun control https://t.co/QhfLs03KsX https://t.co/38dbhXYx82
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) October 22, 2018
Don’t call large groups of violent people “mobs” and don’t call groups of people trying to forcibly break across another country’s borders an “army”. Accurate words offend the left so please refrain from using them.
Also Tea Partiers are terrorists and Trump is Hitler. https://t.co/wgPVZJucg9
— Orange Muppet Energy (@sunnyright) October 22, 2018
Here’s a definition of the word:
a large number of people or things, typically formed or organized for a particular purpose.
"an army of photographers"
How was it used inappropriately? #liberalwordpolice— Jeff Martinez, Jr. (@jeffmrtnez) October 22, 2018
Hey Soledad, from Webster: “3. A body of persons organized to advance a cause.” Do better yourself. https://t.co/YToc2SUR8E
— 1/1024th Beto Horseface (@SNADoubleAche) October 22, 2018
But the AP obviously decided to try and extinguish the blowback from the Left.
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