Department of Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen on Friday said she was "horrified" that Democratic lawmakers would stoop to twisting the "animals" comment made by President Donald Trump, calling it "dangerous" and "unprofessional."
A guest on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" morning show, Nielsen said it was clear from the jump that the president was calling MS-13 gang members "animals," not immigrants in general.
"Personally, I think those lawmakers owe the president an apology. They are (misrepresenting) facts in a very dangerous way," Nielsen told the Fox panel. "The president's … making clear he will not stand for this violence in our communities.
"And here you have elected members of Congress pretending he's talking about something entirely different. It's dangerous, it's inappropriate, and frankly, it's just unprofessional," Nielsen said.
Trump on Wednesday referenced "animals" when responding to a question about MS-13 during an anti-Sanctuary city meeting at the White House. The comment got spun against the president for referencing all immigrants.
"I was a bit horrified," Nielsen said. "It was clear he was talking about MS-13. … If anyone wants to quibble about whether we should call those people animals, perhaps the quibble should be whether we call them something worse."
Nielsen also responded to a report that she had drafted a resignation letter after taking the brunt of Trump's criticisms at a Cabinet meeting last week over leaky borders.
"No, it's not" true, Nielsen said.
"I think what we did see at that Cabinet meeting was a president who's really frustrated. He's been trying to work with Congress, and in my opinion he's bent over backwards to make deals with them … and yet you have a Congress that just won't act. He's doing his duty, they need to do theirs," Nielsen said.
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