‘We Don’t Do Stunts.’ Mattis Reveals Military Force Against Caravan is Deadly Serious Possibility

Thousands of Troops are being deployed to the southern U.S. border as the huge migrant caravan approches. 

But that didn’t stop one reporter from asking Secretary of Defense James Mattis whether the move was a “political stunt.” General Mattis’s response was as brief as it was harsh: “We don’t do stunts.”

Fox News reports:

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis emphatically denied a reporter’s suggestion Wednesday that the deployment of approximately 5,200 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border is part of a political stunt ahead of next week’s midterm elections.

“We don’t do stunts in this department. Thank you,” Mattis told a reporter who posed the question after a Pentagon meeting with Mattis’ South Korean counterpart. The defense secretary added the deployment was to provide “practical support” to the Department of Homeland Security and was based on a request from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The deployment is in response to the approach of a caravan containing an estimated 4,000 Central American migrants. An additional 2,000 to 3,000 forces have been told to prepare to deploy if needed.

The White House repeatedly has warned members of the caravan that they will not be allowed into the United States. In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Monday night, President Trump vowed that the migrants “are not coming in” and said the administration would build “tent cities” to house asylum-seekers.