Outgoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan thinks President Trump was being “kind” when he described illegal immigrant members of the MS-13 gang as “animals” last week.
“I know you’ve been taking a hit on your comments about MS-13 and animals,” Homan said to Trump during an immigration roundtable Wednesday in New York’s Nassau County, an area that has been increasingly infiltrated by the transnational criminal group.
“I think you’re being kind. Animals kill for survival, MS-13 kills for sport,” Homan said to applause. “They kill to terrorize and there’s a big difference there.”
Trump has accused congressional Democrats of “defending” the violent gang after he called its members animals. At an event Tuesday night, he claimed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “came out in favor of MS-13” in the wake of his comment.
Pelosi had told reporters last week that “calling people animals is not a good thing.”
Trump again seized on the criticism by his political opponents during Wednesday’s roundtable.
“Democrats are trying to defend MS-13 gang members,” he said. “I called them animals the other day and I was met with rebuke. They said, ‘They’re people.’ They’re not people. These are animals. And we have to be very, very tough.”
