Corey Lewandowski is refusing to apologize for vocalizing a sound effect that appeared to mock a 10-year-old girl with Down Syndrome being separated from her mother, Yahoo News is reporting.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , on Tuesday night Lewandowski appeared on Fox News to discuss the controversy surrounding the “Zero Tolerance” immigration policy that, as it’s currently enforced, results in children who cross the border illegally with the parents being separated from their families and housed in detention facilities. During the segment, Democratic political strategist Zac Petkanas mentioned the case of a disabled ten-year-old girl being separated from her parents. Lewandowski interrupted Petkanas by saying “Womp womp.”
In case you don’t get the reference, Lewandowski was vocally imitating the “sad trombone” sound effect, which is used to comedically indicate failure or disappointment, often in a sarcastic way.
Petkanas was livid.
“Did you just say ‘womp womp’ to a 10-year-old with Down syndrome being taken from her mother? How dare you. How dare you. How absolutely dare you, sir.”
Lewandowski’s remark drew intense outrage, including from former Fox News contributor Megyn Kelly.
“There is no low to which this coward Corey Lewandowski won’t sink. This man should not be afforded a national platform to spew his hate.”
Outrage aside, Lewandowski is refusing to apologize.
In a Wednesday morning tweet, Lewandowski insisted that he wasn’t making fun of the girl or her plight, but rather Petkanas for bringing it up.
“Lots of Fake News today, I mocked a liberal who attempted to politicize children, as opposed to discussing the real issue which is fixing a broken immigration system.”
And as for apologizing, Lewandowski is having none of it. Appearing on Fox News on Wednesday morning, Trump’s former campaign manager, who remains an “informal” Trump adviser, made it clear that he has no intention of apologizing.
“An apology? I owe an apology to the children whose parents are putting them in a position that is forcing them to be separated.”
He then steered the discussion towards, as Yahoo News writer Dylan Stableford describes it, Trump administration talking points. Specifically, he mentioned three people – Jamiel Shaw, Kate Steinle, and Brian Terry – who were killed by undocumented immigrants.
The Trump administration continues to insist that the policy of separating immigrant children from their parents began under Obama. That’s not 100 percent true, says Stableford. The law doesn’t actually require children to be separated from their parents. Moreover, neither the Obama administration nor the George W. Bush administration treated illegal immigrants as criminals and actually jailed them.
