President Trump suggested shooting migrants in the leg as they try to cross the border during a March meeting, according to CNN.
What We Know:
- This meeting took place with White House Aide Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, then-Customs and Border Protection Chief Kevin McAleenan, acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Presidential Adviser, son-in-law Jared Kushner, along with a few more staff.
- Trump was looking to close the border and Nielsen tried to explain to Trump that closing it wouldn’t stop migrants from applying for asylum.
- In the meeting, Trump shouted how he ran on the immigration issue and how his staff is making him look like an idiot.
- Nielsen tried to change the subject to another topic but Trump cut him off midsentence shouting “Kirstjen, you didn’t hear me the first time, honey? Shoot ’em down. Sweetheart, just shoot ’em out of the sky, O.K.?”, according to the New York Times.
- His reaction is really no surprise. In the past, Trump has laughed off remarks like these from individual supporters of his.
- He has also said in the past that border security shouldn’t shoot and “I don’t want these people throwing rocks,” referring to migrants who cross the border.
The sources used in this article are from the new book Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration, to be published by Simon & Schuster on October 8.
