Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said Monday that he "could have been more careful" when he said White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is "a hypocrite" who "has no honor."
"General Kelly is a hypocrite who is a disgrace to the uniform he used to wear. He has no honor and should be drummed out of the White House along with the white supremacists and those enabling the president's actions by 'just following orders,'" the congressman said in a statement after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, according to The Hill.
On Monday, Gutierrez told CNN host Alisyn Camerota, when asked if he "regrets" what he said, "I could have been more careful with the use of my words, and there are times that you need to re-evaluate.
"Having said that, I saw him as head of Homeland Security deport grandmothers who had been for 15 years reporting dutifully to Homeland Security with their American citizen grandchildren. Heartless actions, and increasing deportations against people who presented no threat."
The Illinois Democrat added that Kelly, while running the Department of Homeland Security, said, "I'm the one that is stopping the Dreamers from getting deported. I care about them; I'm defending them, I'm protecting them," adding, "And it was a pretty heartless thing to do."
Gutierrez said, "So yes, you can always be more careful, and I will probably be talking more about that in the future."