Chelsea Clinton slams congressman's comments to Fox News about 'only 2' migrant children dying: 'For shame'

Erin Donnelly
·Yahoo Life Senior Editor
Chelsea Clinton has called out Rep. Peter King for his remarks about the deaths of two migrant children. (Photo: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)
Chelsea Clinton has called out Rep. Peter King for his remarks about the deaths of two migrant children. (Photo: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)

An interview a Republican representative gave to Fox News about the deaths of two migrant children while in ICE custody has rankled many — including Chelsea Clinton.

The former first daughter took to Twitter to decry comments made by Rep. Peter King during an interview with Fox News’s Julie Banderas on Friday. The Republican congressman from New York defended ICE and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen following outcry over the Christmas Eve death of 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo. The young boy was the second migrant child to die while being held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities; 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin died earlier this month.

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“I think it’s wrong to be piling on and blaming ICE,” King said. “They’ve had hundreds of thousands of people that they had custody of over the years, and I think these are the only two children that have died, certainly in recent memory.”

Though King called the deaths “terrible,” many commenters have accused him of downplaying their seriousness. Some critics have called him a “monster,” while others said his remarks were at odds with his “pro-life” stance.

Clinton, last heard defending Barron Trump from online mockery, was among those condemning King’s statement. She also singled out his insistence that migrants “had bad health to begin with” and labeled his non-sequitur reference to housing projects “dog-whistle racism.”

Clinton’s tweet drew praise — and even a plea for her to follow in her parents’ political footsteps.

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