Corey Lewandowski tried to dismiss criticism of the administration’s policy of separating immigrant families during a Fox News interview Tuesday by mocking a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who had been separated from her mother after illegally crossing the border.
“I read today about a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was taken from her mother and put in a cage,” Zac Petkanas, a Democratic strategist, said on during the Fox News panel discussion about the administration’s new immigration policy.
Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign manager and frequent TV commentator, interjected by saying “womp, womp,” as he rolled his eyes.
“Did you just say ‘womp, womp’ to a 10-year-old with Down syndrome being taken from her mother?” Petkanas asked incredulously. “How dare you!”
Lewandowski tried to recover but was drowned out by Petkanas.
According to the Washington Post, the girl in question was sent to a Texas shelter even though Mexican authorities said that her father, a legal U.S. resident, lived an hour away down the highway.
This is the second time in less than 24 hours that Fox News has come under fire for incendiary on-air remarks. On Tuesday, Parkland student David Hogg called for an advertiser boycott against Fox News personality Laura Ingraham, after she compared detention centers to “summer camp.”
Reps for Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://twitter.com/passantino/status/1009220051172495361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Flewandowski-on-girl-with-down-syndrome-separated-from-mother-womp-womp