Ann Coulter calls immigrant children ‘child actors’

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter called children crying at the border after being separated from parents “child actors” during an appearance Sunday on Fox News. 

Coulter also said President Trump should not fall for the “child actors” as he faces pressure to end his zero-tolerance policy at the border, which has resulted in parents being separated from their children so that they face immediate deportation. 

“I would also say one other thing, these child actors weeping and crying on all the other networks 24/7 right now — do not fall for it, Mr. President,” Coulter said on “The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton.” 

“I get very nervous about the president getting his news from TV,” she added.

Ann Coulter on Fox News calls crying immigrant children “child actors” and looks directly into the camera to warn Trump not to fall for it. pic.twitter.com/SIjrocmxKB

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) June 18, 2018

Coulter referenced a story in The New Yorker in arguing that children filmed at the border are acting, saying it had described the children as being coached. 

“A New Yorker article, The New Yorker is not a conservative publication, they describe how these kids, these kids are being coached,” she said. “They’re given scripts to read by liberals, according to The New Yorker. Don’t fall for the actor children.”

It’s unclear what New Yorker article Coulter was referring to.

A New York Times report published last month cited officials saying that migrant children had been coached on what to say in order to be granted asylum, as a defense of the administration’s recently implemented zero-tolerance policy.

Some conservative voices in the media also accused students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., after a deadline shooting there of being “crisis actors,” arguing they were not really students from the school. 

The Trump administration has faced major backlash over its zero-tolerance policy, which requires every person apprehended illegally crossing the border to face prosecution.

Trump has inaccurately stated that the policy is a law and has attempted to shift responsibility to lawmakers and Democrats to change the measure.

Senate Democrats introduced a bill earlier this month to end the separation of immigrant families, and a House bill released by Republicans last week would also end it. 

Democrats and a growing number of Republicans have pointed out, however, that Trump could end the policy himself without the need for action by Congress.