Sitcom star Roseanne Barr was derided as a conspiracy theorist by the national media after she tweeted about President Donald Trump freeing hundreds of children from trafficking rings around the world.
The White House report showed that 518 victims of human trafficking were rescued and 1,602 human trafficking suspects were arrested in 2017 by a dedicated unit at the Department of Homeland Security. During the same time, a government-funded human-trafficking hotline received reports leading to the identification of 21,644 victims.
These figures are part of a bigger picture. The FBI publishes data on human trafficking arrests reported by police forces at the state level, but the summary for 2017 has not yet been published. The White House statistics also don’t include human trafficking arrests made by the FBI or law enforcement around the world.
Based on news articles and official government releases, nearly 3,300 victims of human trafficking have been rescued around the world since Trump took office and more than 5,300 suspects have been arrested.
Considering these facts, Barr’s full tweet is grounded in reality, but none of the data was mentioned in any major media outlet’s coverage of her tweet. The Washington Post came close by mentioning the questionable debunking of a different claim, which Barr did not make. That claim states that more human traffickers were arrested during Trump’s first two months in office than in a year under President Barack Obama. This is a strawman argument—attacking a claim unrelated to the one in question while pretending to stay on topic.
Given that the White House report was available for more than two weeks before Barr’s tweet, the media either willfully omitted the crucial context or failed to perform a basic review of public releases from the government.
“President Trump has freed so many children held in bondage to pimps all over this world. Hundreds each month,” Barr wrote in the tweet that started the media onslaught. “He has broken up trafficking rings in high places everywhere. notice that. I disagree on some things, but give him benefit of doubt-4 now.”
Her reference to “hundreds of children” is substantiated by facts. Approximately 25 percent of human trafficking victims are children, according to the White House. Applying that figure to the data gathered from news stories and government reports, approximately 825 children have been rescued from human trafficking since Trump took office.
In her tweet, Barr attributed the rescues to Trump. This is also well-founded.
“Human trafficking is a sickening crime at odds with our very humanity,” Trump wrote in the proclamation. “My administration continues to work to drive out the darkness human traffickers cast upon our world.”
Victims’ advocates cheered when Backpage.com was shut down on April 6. The massive website listed ads primarily for sex and had affiliates across the United States and around the world. The company generated $135 million in revenue in 2014, New York Times reported.
Nearly three-quarters of the cases submitted to The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children relate to ads posted on Backpage.com, the center told Congress, according to Reuters.
“Today, Backpage was shut down. It’s a huge step. Now no child will be sold for sex through this website,” tweeted Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).
Trump was outspoken about pedophiles and human traffickers long before he announced his run for president.
“Got to do something about these missing chidlren [sic] grabbed by the perverts,” Trump wrote on Twitter in 2012. “Too many incidents--fast trial, death penalty.”
Trump also waged a public war against now-convicted pedophile Anthony Weiner. Trump’s Twitter account alone has more than 70 messages calling out the disgraced former House member.
