Why US comedian Samantha Bee was angry at Ivanka Trump for tweeting a photo of her son
Updated
US comedian Samantha Bee called Ivanka Trump a "feckless c**t" on her late-night show, Full Frontal, this week.
She apologised for using the expletive today, saying it was "inappropriate" and "crossed the line", but that's where the apology stopped.
Ultimately, Bee wants her comments to start a conversation about the country's immigration policies, which are reportedly breaking up families and putting children at risk.
Here's some background info to get you up to speed.
There are reports of children being separated from their parents at the US border
Some reports claim they're being taken from their mothers with only five minutes' notice, and heartbreaking affidavits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against the Government, say families are being kept separated for months on end.
In one case, a Salvadoran woman declared she was only given minutes to say goodbye to her two sons, aged 4 and 10 years old.
"In tears myself, I asked my boys to be brave, and I promised we would be together soon," said Ms JIL, whose full name has been protected.
"I begged the woman who took my children to keep them together so they could at least have each other."
In another case, Miran from Honduras said US immigration officers took her statement and documents, then told her they were taking her 18-month old son from her.
"The immigration officers made me walk out with my son to a government vehicle and place my son in a car," she said.
"My son was crying as I put him in the seat. I did not even have the chance to try to comfort my son, because the officers slammed the door shut as soon as he was in his seat."
But the policy is part of America's tough new immigration measures
Last month the Trump administration announced it had "zero tolerance" for people who crossed the border illegally, and that's why there has been a rise in separations, according to the deputy director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan.
Mr Homan said the Department of Homeland Security had "always separated families" under two specific situations:
- When the Government can't establish the adult is the parent or when a child is being trafficked; and
- When a parent is prosecuted
"This has always been the policy," he said.
"Now you will see more prosecutions because of the Attorney-General's commitment to 'zero tolerance'".
Now enter Ivanka Trump …
When the President's daughter chose this week to share a photo of her embracing her son on Twitter, it made Bee angry.
Here's the photo:
And we'll leave the rest up to Bee. Here's what she said in her rant:
"After decades of ignoring the issue, Americans are finally paying attention. Well most of us …" she said.
"Ivanka Trump, who works at the White House, chose to post the second most oblivious tweet this week.
"You know Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me just say one thing, one mother to another: do something about your dad's immigration practices you feckless c**t.
"He listens to you. Put on something tight and low-cut and tell your father to f**king stop it. Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes, OK?"
So what now?
Bee's comments have prompted more criticism of Ms Trump on social media.
But it looks like she may get through this scandal unscathed.
TBS, the network that airs Bee's show, says it is happy she apologised and gave no further information on whether there would be consequences.
ABC/Reuters
Topics: human-interest, foreign-affairs, television-broadcasting, donald-trump, united-states
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