"Leave My Husband Alone": US Official Confronted Over Family Separations

Protesters confronted Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday over migrant family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border, a sign that outrage over the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policy is not abating.

Chao and McConnell, who are married to each other, were about to climb into a black SUV when they were approached by a small group of young men at Georgetown University. One started repeating, "Why are you separating families?"

A short confrontation ensued. "Why you don't leave my husband alone? Why you don't leave my husband alone?" Chao responded as McConnell got into the SUV.

"I'm not trying to disrespect you, but why is he separating families?" the young man said. "I'm not trying to disrespect you. He's separating families."

An angry Chao told the protesters to "leave him alone" as she tried to walk to the other side of the SUV with the help of security guards.

"No, he's not" separating families, she said. "You leave my husband alone," she added, pointing at the group.

"How does he sleep at night? How does he sleep at night?" one protester said.

The encounter was caught on video and posted to Twitter by a user with the handle @Roberto62543651. He identified himself and the other protesters as Georgetown students when contacted by The Post.

The video had been viewed more than 200,000 times in two hours on Tuesday afternoon.

Another observer caught the episode on camera and posted it to Twitter:

A group of protesters confronts Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao with @ProPublica's audio of children separated from their families at the border while leaving a @Georgetown event. pic.twitter.com/jRKHKBeFpC

- Jesus Rodriguez (@jesusrodriguezb) June 26, 2018

 
Chao's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for McConnell declined to comment.

Chao and McConnell are not the only Republican officials who have been confronted over the separation of migrant families at the border.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen faced protesters when she dined at a Mexican restaurant last week; White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, over the weekend; and protesters gathered outside the apartment of Trump adviser Stephen Miller on Monday night.