GOP congressman: It’s ‘fine’ that kids are dying in US custody
Rep. Chip Roy was shockingly dismissive about the six children who have died after being detained at the border.
Six migrant children are known to have died in U.S. custody after being detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. But when a CNN anchor pushed Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) to address these deaths, Roy simply replied: “Fine.”
Roy’s coldhearted comment came in the middle of Wednesday night interview with anchor Chris Cuomo on “Cuomo Prime Time,” during which Roy also defended his decision to hold up a disaster relief bill in the House.
Roy has claimed that he held up the bill — a bipartisan measure that would send much-needed aid to Americans dealing with hurricane, flood, and wildfire damage — in part because wants more money to be spent on border security.
Anchor Chris Cuomo pointed out that amid their push for tougher border security, Roy and other Republicans are ignoring the deaths of children in ICE custody.
“Deal with the kids right now, Chip,” said Cuomo.
“No,” Roy replied.
“You know they’re dying,” Cuomo continued.
“Fine,” said Roy.
Roy proceeded to recite Republican talking points about alleged dangers from drugs and gangs at the border, skipping over Cuomo’s points about child deaths.
Roy also claimed that children are coming across the border are mostly being used as props by drug mules — which, as Cuomo pointed out, simply isn’t true for the majority of children crossing. Most are just kids whose parents or other family members are bringing them to America to seek a better life.
Roy has come under fire for obstructing disaster aid and hurting his constituents.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, the congressman sent out over 200 tweets and retweets, most of them angrily pushing back against the overwhelming tide of public opinion against him.
A Florida reporter pointed out Roy’s hypocrisy, noting that Roy had pushed for disaster relief in his own state after a hurricane, but is now blocking relief for those still recovering from last year’s hurricane in the Florida panhandle.
“Nothing inconsistent here,” Roy replied.
Roy’s obstruction is becoming a political problem for him as well. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has begun running ads in his district highlighting his unpopular vote.
While he managed to hold on to his seat when Democrats took the House in 2018, Roy’s margin of victory was less than 3 percentage points.
Roy already made himself look callous by blocking disaster relief — and dismissing the deaths of innocent children probably won’t help him.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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