AP deletes tweet that ‘failed to note’ Trump’s birthright claim was incorrect

The Associated Press on Tuesday deleted a tweet that failed to fact-check President Trump’s false claim that the U.S. is the only country with birthright citizenship.

The AP’s original tweet quoted Trump, who said during an interview released Tuesday, “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States.”

{mosads}The AP tweet did not mention that around 30 other countries also have birthright citizenship. 

“We have deleted a tweet about President Trump’s claim that the U.S. is the only country that grants birthright citizenship because it failed to note that his statement was incorrect,” the AP tweeted on Tuesday morning after facing hours of backlash. 

We have deleted a tweet about President Trump’s claim that the U.S. is the only country that grants birthright citizenship because it failed to note that his statement was incorrect.

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) October 30, 2018

Journalists and commentators on Twitter spent the morning hitting the AP over the tweet, saying it is irresponsible to amplify false claims.

This is absolute malpractice and @AP_Politics should delete this tweet.

The United States is not the only country in the world with birthright citizenship. pic.twitter.com/wZ6J86ITXX

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) October 30, 2018

“Many countries, including Canada and Mexico, have birthright citizenship,” MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin wrote. “This Trump statement is not true.” 

The AP has faced criticism of a number of tweets which the news service has deleted or apologized for over inaccuracies or misinformation. 

The latest AP tweet controversy comes after Trump claimed during an Axios interview that he is planning to end birthright citizenship for children of noncitizens by executive order.

Legal experts have cast doubt on his ability to do this, saying he would have to go through Congress or the Supreme Court to alter the U.S. Constitution. 

The 14th Amendment states that all persons “born or naturalized in the United States” are “citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”