CNN’s Camerota clashes with Trump’s immigration head over president’s tweet

Acting Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli and CNN’s Alisyn Camerota clashed Monday morning after the administration official refused to comment on President Trump’s tweet suggesting Democratic congresswomen “go back” to where they came from.  

“I’m not commenting on the president’s tweet,” Cuccinelli said. “I’m not the representative of Twitter.” 

Cuccinelli said he did not see the tweet, although, as Camerota pointed out, CNN’s Jake Tapper read it to him during an on-air interview Sunday. {mosads}

In that interview, Cuccinelli said he did not know to whom the tweet was directed. 

“Now that I’m reading it to you, or just the concept of the president telling duly elected congresswomen of color to go back to where they came from, the countries they came from, these are U.S. citizens. You don’t find that racist?” Camerota asked Monday. 

“No,” Cuccinelli responded. 

When asked to elaborate more on the tweets, he said, “You’re going to have to ask the president that.” 

“But sir, you represent immigration for the administration. Do you think that the president of the United States should be telling U.S. citizens of color to go back to the countries they came from?” Camerota asked. 

“I think the president of the United States should be doing what he is in the immigration space and that is on focusing on trying to fix an obviously broken system,” Cuccinelli responded. 

The senior official said he would not call the tweet racist, but said he sees it as “political hand grenades.”

Cuccinelli was on CNN to discuss the planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in multiple U.S. cities. He would not comment on details, including the number of arrests that have been made. 

He also said ICE has not told him if the raids had begun.