On Sunday, Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” went viral for an inane lower third graphic that stated that President Donald Trump had cut US aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, or, as the network described them, “3 Mexican countries.” Since Fox News mislabeled the Central American countries, there have been many reactions.
Co-host Ed Henry issued an on-air correction, but it doesn’t change the fact that the incident is just more erasure in a long history of Central American erasure. It also once again shows that to some people, anyone with roots in Latin America is considered Mexican. And the error also shifts our attention in the wrong direction. Instead of worrying about the repercussions of cutting aid to these Central American countries – experts say this will only worsen conditions, which will in turn, increase immigration – we’re upset about the graphic. (Though, there are plenty of Central Americans drawing attention to how cutting off aid will affect the people from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.)
Despite all the anger, many have responded to the chyron by turning to memes (it is 2019, after all), where they’ve imagined the Americas in a completely new way. Check out some of the best new maps below.