“Outnumbered” cohosts Katie Pavlich and Marie Harf squared off during Thursday’s show, arguing over the intent and context of President Donald Trump’s recent comments regarding MS-13 gang-members coming into the country illegally.
Harf, a former State Department spokeswoman under President Obama, claimed that “Donald Trump yesterday also called immigrants animals.”
WATCH:
Pavlich hit right back, explaining that President Trump’s comment was clearly directed at MS-13 gang members and not all immigrants. “The sheriff has referred to MS-13, and the president responded about saying they’re animals and they are. Because — You should be accurate about what he said.” (RELATED: Media Falsely Accuses Trump Of Calling Immigrants ‘Animals’)
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, during a Wednesday roundtable meeting with the president, explained why California’s sanctuary state laws have made her job harder and her constituents less safe.
“There can be an MS-13 member I know about, if they don’t reach a certain threshold I cannot tell ICE about them.”
Trump’s controversial comments were a direct response to Mims. “we’re taking people out of the country, you wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people, these are animals.”
Harf then backpedaled, claiming that no person should be called an animal and that President Trump should have been clearer about who he was referring to when he said it.
Following the comments — which were made during a Wednesday roundtable meeting with elected officials from California who have put up a fight against the state’s sanctuary status — multiple media outlets immediately ran with the president’s excised quote, absent the context provided by Mims’ comment.