Donald Trump's disgraced former campaign manager took to Fox News Wednesday to do damage control after he mocked a 10-year-old child with Down Syndrome by claiming to care about the "politicization of children."
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told Fox News' Sandra Smith that his "womp womp" comments in response to former Democratic adviser Zac Petkanas were about the consultant "trying to politicize the use of children as a political football."
"The law is very clear," Trump's ex-campaign manager — who was once charged with battery for assaulting a Breitbart reporter — said. "When parents commit crimes by coming into this country, regardless of who their children are, they are separated because we are a nation of laws. That has never changed. This is a policy that is implemented under the Obama Administration and Congress can change this. but they have chosen not to do that."
"It doesn't matter to me if you come with one child or ten children, nobody wants to see their parents separated from their children," Lewandowski continued. "But the parents understand that by coming to this country illegally they are committing a crime and there are consequences just as there would be in any other country in the world. So let's not make this about politicizing children. Let's make it about the rules and the laws and Congress has the ability to change that."
The host asked the former campaign manager to clarify whether he was making fun of the child with Down Syndrome that Petkanas referenced during a Tuesday Fox News panel, and Lewandowski denied the comments were directed at the child or their story.
"I don't know the young girl that Zac referenced," he said. "I was mocking Zac, a liberal Democratic National Committee activist who is doing nothing but politicizing the issue of making an example of one particular child."
"If we are going to talk about children and illegal immigration, let's talk about Kate Steinle and Jameel Shaw who were permanently separated from their families because they were killed by illegal immigrants," Lewandowski said, raising the GOP's popular anti-immigrant talking points. "Let's talk about Brian Terry and his family. The border agent who was killed. A police officer killed on the border and whose son was shot on the face in his stoop in California by an illegal immigrant and Kate Steinle. Let's talk about families permanently separated because the mainstream media has been so outrageous about this."
Smith pressed on, asking Lewandowski if he felt he owed the child or those hurt by the seemingly-insensitive comments an apology, but he refused to do so.
"An apology? I owe an apology to the children whose parents are putting them in a position that is forcing them to be separated," he said before once again bringing up Steinle, Shaw and Terry, who he claimed are the ones owed an apology.
"The American people owe an apology to those people," Lewandowski concluded. "When you cross the border illegally you have committed a crime and there is accountability for committing crimes and there should be."
Watch below, via Fox News:
