Oops: Arizona Politician Confuses Bus Full of Migrant Children With…YMCA Campers

An Arizona Republican congressional candidate on Tuesday called out what he thought was a school bus full of newly arrived migrant children…with one problem: The bus was actually carrying YMCA kids on their way to camp.

State Rep. Adam Kwasman tweeted his outrage with a photo of a bus and the words: "Bus coming in. This is not compassion. This is the abrogation of the rule of law."

Arizona state Rep. Adam Kwasman deleted his tweet. (Image source: Politwoops)

"I was able to actually see some of the children on the buses and the fear on their faces," Kwasman, who's running in the GOP primary for Arizona's first congressional district, told KPNX-TV.

But after a news reporter set him straight, Kwasman had to struggle to get back on track. He deleted his tweet, which was still captured by Politwoops.

"Do you know that was a bus with YMCA kids?" reporter Will Pitts asked.

"They were sad, too," Kwasman said. "OK, I apologize. I didn't know. I was leaving when I saw them."

Arizona state Rep. Adam Kwasman confused a bus full of YMCA campers with illegal immigrant children. (Image source: KPNX-TV)

He added, "I said I saw children. … Those were not migrant children. That's fine. Listen, when you see -- it was a mistake. That was a mistake. That was not correct and that's a mistake."

More than 57,000 children have illegally crossed into the United States since the fall, with the question of where to shelter them triggering protests in Arizona and California.

Here's the full video of Kwasman's awkward walk-back: