Trump tweets "There is nothing nice about searching for terrorists"
President Trump appeared to suggest Monday morning that the chaos at airports across the country over the weekend was due to a Delta computer outage and protestersresponding to his administration’s travel ban rather than the ban itself.
Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage,.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017
protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer. Secretary Kelly said that all is going well with very few problems. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017
Mr. Trump was apparently referencing Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Friday tweet that “Tears are running down the cheeks of the Statue of Liberty” over the ban.
Mr. Trump then tweeted that there’s “nothing nice” about searching for terrorists.
There is nothing nice about searching for terrorists before they can enter our country. This was a big part of my campaign. Study the world!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017
Delta experienced a computer outage Sunday that grounded domestic flights and a limited number resumed as of Monday morning.
The chaos at airports, however, stemmed from the president’s travel ban. He signed an executive order Friday that has blocked all travel to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries -- Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Libya -- for at least 90 days. It resulted in more than 100 people being detained at U.S. airports over the weekend.
Mr. Trump emphasized in his tweet that only 109 people had been detained, but he didn’t highlight how many people were prevented from boarding their flights abroad or how many people were affected in total by his new policy.
In response, hundreds of protesters demonstrated at airports around the country and across some major cities.