OPINION
Premium

CBS News Tried to Recalibrate Detention Stats — DHS Was Having None of It, and WaPo Continues Dissolving

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Feb 09, 2026
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Get access to Brad Slager's "Riffed From the Headlines," a daily VIP feature where he looks to bring accountability to the mainstream media. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!

Artisanally-Craftyed Narratives – CBS NEWS

  • Classic example of making statistics say whatever you please.

It has been a long-running argument in the press that ICE and DHS are not detaining a proper percentage of illegal aliens with criminal histories. Not that this was a prerequisite for any illegals to be removed, but they cling to the pledge made to target the worst offenders.

CBS News came out with an analysis provided by DHS and declared that a paltry number of those detained — 14 percent — have violent criminal records. 

This struck us as a bit of convenient qualifying for the sake of measurement, and DHS lent the perspective needed for this claim. It seems that resting on the word “violent” was the first way the network pared down the totals.

Another wrinkle involves those arrested for serious crimes but turned over rather than being processed through the courts. And, of course, the obvious obfuscation is that 100 percent of illegal arrivals are illegal enough for deportation, but the press chooses to evade that detail.

Borderline Obsession – CBS NEWS

  • Glossing over the reasons is a rather obvious tell.

For the latest sob story report meant to demonize immigration enforcement, CBS tells the tale of a woman who was detained, and in the aftermath her son, stricken with cancer, ended up passing away. A significant amount of time is spent developing sympathy for her plight, but given light regard, reported almost in passing, is the fact that she has entered this country illegally on four occassions. That is repeated felonious activity, and she has a standing deportation order. 

Race to the Bottom – NBC News

  • Allow them to turn racial in order to prove their point.

Going into the weekend, the press was in full throated outrage over the claim that on Truth Social President Trump posted a “racist” video involving the Obamas. (He posted a voter fraud video, at the end of which a brief snippet of a parody video was shown as part of the autoplay function from the video platform it was pulled from.) NBC News managed to find some Republican Congress members who were upset about this clip, including Tim Scott.

NBC saw the need to point out that Scott is the only African American Republican senator to underscore the “racist” aspects of the party.

Reporting on the Mirror – WASHINGTON POST

  • Most will hate the thing they called for as a result of the timing.

With so many in the press outraged over the job cuts at WaPo last week, much of the scorn was leveled at the management, mostly at Jeff Bezos. But CEO Will Lewis was also a favored target. Just as there was mounting venom in press outlets, the announcement was made that Lewis is stepping down from his role.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – WASHINGTON POST

  • Declaring a figure with no bearing on the game as vital to the game is desperation.

Last week we noted how the Washington Post seemed intent on showing why the layoffs were a valid move with a series of dysfunctional reports. That continued through the weekend with the Super Bowl as the evicted sports desperately tried to get in some last-second activism.

With so much outrage surrounding the Bad Bunny appearance, the paper appeared to want in on the outrage market. So, naturally, they looked at the fact that the game was being played in San Francisco as a prime opportunity to dredge up Colin Kaepernick.

Oh, yes, it is a big mystery why people are turning away from this outlet, leading to massive losses.

Low-Octane Gaslighting – CNN

  • The lack of research is bad enough, but relying on THAT account as factual is hilarious.

About that Bad Bunny halftime show. In one portion, he was seen bending down and offering his recent Grammy Award trophy to a young boy. CNN’s Jim Sciutto retweeted a post stating the boy was Liam Ramos, the tyke that the press erroneously claimed had been used as bait by ICE agents. 

That this turned out not be the case is of little surprise, but to see the prominent CNN newsman retweeting a post by the reliably lie-filled Brian Krassenstein underscores the flaw in his operations.