Politics

CNN’s John Avlon Accuses Trump Of ‘Tripling Down’ On ‘Punitive’ Policy Of Family Separation To Limit Border Crossings

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CNN senior political analyst John Avlon accused President Donald Trump of “tripling down” on the administration’s “punitive” policy of family separations on “New Day” Tuesday, saying they’re out of touch with the electorate.

“New Day” ran a clip from Trump’s “60 Minutes” interview with Lesley Stahl when she tried to force the president to answer yes or no, about whether they’d continue with family separations along the southern border.

Trump said the answer couldn’t be limited to a yes or no, saying, “There are consequences from coming into a country, namely our country, illegally.”

“He is tripling down on what has been the administration’s somewhat understated reason for this, which is it’s supposed to be punitive,” Avlon said. “It is supposed to de-incentivize.”

“Jeff Sessions said it early on … this is a positive good. The separation is a feature, not a bug in terms of deterring people to cross,” he continued.

Avlon used illegal immigrant children who are still being held in detention as a talking point, and said if the Trump administration still favors family separation, they’ll find themselves at odds with most of America.

“That’s 13 kindergarten classrooms of kids that are still in detention,” Avlon concluded. “And if the administration sees that as a victory, that is a very different vision of America than many folks have.”

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