Trump Doubles Down On 'Animals' Remark
- 6 years ago
President Trump slammed Democrats on Wednesday for criticism of his remarks.
President Trump on Wednesday again referred to the MS-13 gang members as "animals."
"I called them 'animals' the other day, and I was met with rebuke. They said, 'They are people.' They're not people. These are animals, and we have to be very, very tough," Trump said during a roundtable discussion on immigration held in Bethpage, New York.
Trump first made the comment last week during a meeting with California officials who oppose the state's sanctuary laws.
It came after a sheriff's general description of the frustrations caused by the thresholds state and federal laws say must be passed before ICE can get involved. She finished with, "There could be an MS-13 member I know about — if they don't reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it." Trump replied, "We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we're stopping a lot of them — but we're taking people out of the country."
"You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals," the president further noted. "And we're taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that's never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out."
Fox News was quick to assert, "anti-Trump media organizations conveniently took his comments out of context to make it appear that he was talking about illegal immigrants." However, a number of the outlets did qualify the president's remarks by mentioning he was referring to "some" immigrants.
President Trump on Wednesday again referred to the MS-13 gang members as "animals."
"I called them 'animals' the other day, and I was met with rebuke. They said, 'They are people.' They're not people. These are animals, and we have to be very, very tough," Trump said during a roundtable discussion on immigration held in Bethpage, New York.
Trump first made the comment last week during a meeting with California officials who oppose the state's sanctuary laws.
It came after a sheriff's general description of the frustrations caused by the thresholds state and federal laws say must be passed before ICE can get involved. She finished with, "There could be an MS-13 member I know about — if they don't reach a certain threshold, I cannot tell ICE about it." Trump replied, "We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we're stopping a lot of them — but we're taking people out of the country."
"You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals," the president further noted. "And we're taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that's never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out."
Fox News was quick to assert, "anti-Trump media organizations conveniently took his comments out of context to make it appear that he was talking about illegal immigrants." However, a number of the outlets did qualify the president's remarks by mentioning he was referring to "some" immigrants.