The White House issued a press release on Monday condemning the “violent animals of MS-13” in the wake of the recent controversy surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments on the matter.
Last week, Democrats criticized Trump for calling illegal immigrants “animals”; but he said he was referring to the MS-13 gang.
The MS-13 gang, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, originated in the 1980s in Los Angeles. It largely consisted of refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, where there were civil wars. The gang has been involved in several violent crimes over the years, including kidnappings and human smuggling.
“The violent animals of MS-13 have committed heinous, violent attacks in communities across America,” the White House stated on Monday. “Too many innocent Americans have fallen victim to the unthinkable violence of MS-13s animals.”
WATCH: President Trump talks MS-13 gang violence during State of the Union
The post then goes into details about various kidnappings and attacks the gang has been accused of.
During an immigration roundtable with California sheriffs on May 16, Trump referred to some undocumented immigrants as “animals.” But before he said that, he was asked about the MS-13 gang.
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“We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we’re stopping a lot of them — but we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals,” he said.
Some Democrats criticized Trump for using the word.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., responded on Twitter to the president, saying, “When all of our great-great-grandparents came to America they weren’t ‘animals,’ and these people aren’t either.”
But White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later defended the president’s comments, arguing he was referring to the MS-13 gang and the word “animals” didn’t go far enough.
Trump has called MS-13 “animals” before, but this is the first time the White House has used the term in a press release.