ABC News was slammed on social media Wednesday for using different terminology to describe the international criminal organization known as the MS-13 gang.
“The leader of an MS-13 clique in the suburbs of New York City faces sentencing Wednesday in a federal racketeering case involving eight murders, including the 2016 killings of two high school girls that focused the nation’s attention on the violent gang,” ABC posted on X.
Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway was having none of it and called out the mainstream news network for producing “propaganda” while reaching a “new low.”
Of all the propaganda you’ve pushed over the years, describing a gang that murders children as a fun “clique” is a new low.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 2, 2025
Country music singer John Rich pointed out the Webster’s dictionary definition of clique, then mocked ABC News for trying to pull some sleight of hand.
“Webster’s defines ‘clique’ as: ‘a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons held together by common interests, views, or purposes,’” he wrote. “In this case, common interests would be rape and murder.”
Webster’s defines ‘clique’ as: “a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons held together by common interests, views, or purposes.” In this case, common interests would be rape and murder.
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) July 2, 2025
Do you trust ABC News?
Another user joked: “A clique is a group of middle school mean girls. What the hell are you doing [ABC]?”
This might seem small in comparison to some other media malfeasance, but it shows a pattern of trying to downplay — or mask — how horrible something really is, if it benefits liberals.
This tactic has been used by biased journalists on many subjects, but when it comes to illegal immigration, word games are their go-to strategy.
Remember when the term for someone who entered the country illegally was “illegal alien?” Then it got downgraded to “illegal immigrant.” Then this was downgraded even further to “undocumented person” or “non-citizen.”
It’s subtle, but in the end these little tricks become potent.
Other outlets will follow their lead and before you know it, society has renamed a dangerous gang known for terrorizing U.S. citizens into something that sounds benign.
Upon re-entering the White House in January, President Donald Trump didn’t mince words in his executive order designating MS-13 — and other groups like it — as terrorist organizations.
“The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States,” the order read. “In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling nearly all aspects of society. The Cartels’ activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”
“Other transnational organizations, such as Tren de Aragua (TdA) and La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) pose similar threats to the United States,” the order continued. “Their campaigns of violence and terror in the United States and internationally are extraordinarily violent, vicious, and similarly threaten the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”
Trump added. “The Cartels and other transnational organizations, such as TdA and MS-13, operate both within and outside the United States. They present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”
That doesn’t sounds like any “clique” I’ve ever heard of.
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