Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly on Monday said President Trump should “reverse course” on his administration’s “zero tolerance” policy that separates families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The government should know how bad this looks and how innocent children are actually suffering,” O’Reilly, a longtime Trump supporter, tweeted. “That kind of scenario is unacceptable to most Americans as exemplified by former First Lady Laura Bush’s withering criticism.
“The Trump administration will not win on this one and it should reverse course today.”
{mosads}O’Reilly references former First Lady’s Laura Bush’s strong condemnation of the policy in his tweet. Bush in op-ed published in the Washington Post on Sunday called the policy “cruel” and “immoral.”
O’Reilly’s criticism of Trump comes as both Republican and Democratic lawmakers voice outrage over the administration’s policy that instructs the Department of Homeland Security to separate a child from a parent crossing the border that is facing prosecution. The mandate is carried out regardless of whether the family is seeking asylum.
The comments also echo former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci who slammed the policy on Monday, calling it “inhumane” and cruel.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the policy in April, and The Associated Press reported on Friday that nearly 2,000 children had been separated from their parents in a six-week span.
Trump has falsely blamed Democrats for the policy, and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has cited the Bible for the policy’s implementation.
She said that it was “very biblical to enforce the law” during a press briefing last week.
Trump continued to attack Democrats for the policy on Monday, tweeting “it is the Democrats fault for being weak and ineffective with [Border] Security and Crime. Tell them to start thinking about the people devastated by Crime coming from illegal immigration. Change the laws!”