Key White House official Marc Short Monday defended tweets posted by President Donald Trump attacking four freshmen congresswoman, pointing out that a naturalized citizen, Taipei-born Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, is a member of the president's cabinet and asking why Democrats continue to back one of the lawmakers, Somalia-born Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
"If the Democrats choose to want to align around Ilhan Omar, it will be interesting to see how that plays out," Short, the chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, told Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria."
Critics have attacked Trump's tweets, apparently aimed at Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Talib, after he said they should "go back" to the countries they originally came from. All but Omar were born in the United States.
"When people write the president has racist motives, look at the reality of who is serving in Donald Trump's cabinet," said Short. "He is making a point about a great frustration. I think it's hard to find anything that Ilhan Omar that has said that is positive about the United States of America."
Also on Monday, Short talked about traveling with Pence's tour to centers in McAllen, Texas, and said he saw a "system about to break."
He also disagreed with claims that the children in the centers are being mistreated, as they're being provided with "food, care, hygiene, and medical facilities."
In the adult facilities, many of the men who have been detained are "repeat offenders" with criminal records, and while the administration has been asking Congress to provide funding for appropriate facilities, that hasn't happened, he said.