Some in the news media are dismissing claims by President Trump and his allies that the migrant caravan of several thousand Central Americans making its way toward the U.S. poses a threat to the U.S.

Trump has used the caravan to emphasize immigration policy, a theme that helped him win in 2016, and on Monday, he said in a tweet that there are “Many Gang Members and some very bad people” in the caravan. He referred to it as “an invasion of our Country.”

[Related: Trump defends claim of Middle Easterners in migrant caravan, but concedes 'no proof']

But some covering the White House are accusing Trump of focusing on the caravan only for political reasons, and say the massing people don't pose any threat.

“The migrants, according to Fox News' reporting, are more than 2 months away, if any of them actually come here,” Fox News anchor Shepard Smith said Monday. “But tomorrow is one week before the midterm election which is what all of this is about. There is no invasion, no one’s coming to get you. There’s nothing at all to worry about.”

Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote that, “There is in fact no emergency, no invasion, no reason to panic.”


A New York Times report said the caravan was an attempt by Trump and his supporters “to push alarmist, conspiratorial warnings about the migrant caravan more than 2,000 miles from the border.”

Since the caravan formed earlier this month, it swelled in size to nearly 10,000 people, though the United Nations thinks it's closer to 7,000 now. There is little information on who exactly is traveling in the caravan, given its size and the ability of travelers to join it and leave it as it advances.

But many still dismiss the caravan as a non-threat.

Another New York Times news article described Trump’s highlighting of the caravan as “political opportunism.”

“The perception is conveyed that a flood of people is rapidly approaching the U.S. border with Mexico,” wrote Washington Post blogger Philip Bump last week. “It is not.” His piece went on to track how long it might take the caravan to reach the Texas border.

He estimated it would be “around the middle of November,” or, “Just after Election Day.”