GOP leaders are livid after Trump ‘turned the Republican Party into the Party of Family Separation’: report

Republicans on Capitol Hill are furious with the White House for perceived image damage caused by President Donald Trump's policy of family separation along the southern border.

"It is very clear, if you look at statements from members of Congress, both the Senate and particularly vulnerable House Republicans, they understand this looks terrible," MSNBC's Chris Hayes noted, live from McAllen, Texas.

"The reality is that particularly for these vulnerable Republicans, many of which are from states that have high immigrant populations, the images that we have seen, all the reporting, the audio of children screaming who have been separated from their parents, that's something voters really relate to," explained Daily Beast reporter Betsy Woodruff. "This story is something that's really urgent and really pressing for voters, particularly for independent and for swing voters."

"So people on the Hill, especially House Republicans who are worried that their chamber is going to flip, are probably more concerned than they have been in recent weeks about the impact of this news cycle on their ability to keep the House under control," she continued. "And they blame the White House for that."

"They see this very much as the responsibility of the White House, the responsibility of the Justice Department, essentially taking the Republican Party and turning it into the Party of Family Separation," Woodruff revealed.

Another MSNBC contributor, Washington Post White House reporter Ashley Parker, wondered if GOP leaders should have been surprised by Trump's actions.

"This is who Donald Trump is, this is what he ran on, this is what he believes," Parker reminded. "This is what he has been saying for decades before he got into politics."

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