Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski taunts commentator who referenced a 10-year-old girl with Down Syndrome separated from her mother at the US-Mexico border
- Corey Lewandowski, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, appeared to mock an anecdote about a migrant 10-year-old girl with Down Syndrome who was reportedly separated from her family at the US-Mexico border.
- The exchange happened during a discussion on Fox News about the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" border policy.
- In recent days, the administration has faced growing bipartisan criticism over the policy, in which migrants are being referred for criminal prosecution when they cross the US border illegally, which leads to children being separated from the adults they're traveling with.
The ensuing controversy surrounding the Trump administration's enforcement of its "zero-tolerance" policy devolved into a shouting match during a Fox News segment on Tuesday.
"Look, 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 former Hillary Clinton campaign aide, said.
"Womp-womp," Corey Lewandowski, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, said mockingly.
"Did you just say 'womp-womp' to a 10-year-old girl with Down Syndrome being taken from her mother," Petkanas asked.
The conversation quickly went off the rails as the two tumbled into a shouting match.
"What I said is that you can pick anything you want, but the bottom line is very clear," Lewandowski said. "When you cross the border illegally, you have given up the right ..."
"How dare you, how absolutely dare you, sir," Petkanas said.
Petkanas was apparently referring to a Wall Street Journal report that mentioned a girl who was separated from her mother and brother as they attempted to cross the US-Mexico border. The girl and mother were sent to different detention facilities, according to the report.
In recent days, the Trump administration faced growing bipartisan criticism over its enforcement of a "zero-tolerance" policy which refers migrants who have entered the US illegally for criminal prosecution. The move invariably leads to children being separated from the adults they're traveling with.