On Tuesday's Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, as Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson appeared as a guest, host Mitchell demonstrated that one of her liberal buttons is pushed when she hears politically incorrect terms like "illegal immigrants" or "illegal aliens" as she seemed to fret over these terms, which she tagged as "pejorative language," being used by "Angel Moms" -- the mothers of children killed by illegals -- who have spoken on stage at Donald Trump rallies.
As she and Johnson discussed the issue of possibly deporting millions of illegal immigrants, the MSNBC host brought up the parents who have appeared at Trump rallies as she -- using the term "undocumented" which is preferred by liberals -- posed: "Now, I don't know if you've seen these Trump rallies -- and I have been watching very closely -- and it's heartbreaking when he brings out these moms and a few dads -- the 'Angel Moms' he calls them. And they all speak about their children or spouses who have been killed by criminals, they say, who were undocumented." As Johnson began to speak, she vaguely recalled, "They use more pejorative language."
An examination of Trump's speech on immigration policy from Wednesday, August 31, finds that several of the mothers and fathers who appeared on stage used the words "illegal aliens" or "illegal immigrants," so these seem to be the terms Mitchell was worrying over.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, September 6, Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC:
12:16 p.m. ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Immigration. It's unclear exactly what is the policy. We've had a lot of debate, and we're not going to get into that. How would a deportation force work if you had to deport four, five, six million of the 11 million Muslim -- rather, undocumented immigrants here for whatever reason? How would you go about doing that, as a practical matter?[JEH JOHNSON, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY]
And, in fact, the White House has been criticized by many in the community, the Mexican-American community, saying that there's too much deportation.
[JOHNSON]
Now, I don't know if you've seen these Trump rallies -- and I have been watching very closely -- and it's heartbreaking when he brings out these moms and a few dads -- the "Angel Moms" he calls them. And they all speak about their children or spouses who have been killed by criminals, they say, who were undocumented. They use more pejorative language.
