Elaine Chao blocks protesters from Mitch McConnell, shouts: 'Why don't you leave my husband alone?'
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
While leaving an event at Georgetown University on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, were greeted by students protesting the separation of undocumented children from their parents at the border.
One of the protesters, a Georgetown senior named Roberto, tweeted video of the confrontation on Tuesday. The demonstrators played audio of crying children in a detention center, and approached the couple as they left a building. "Why are you separating families?" one asked. "Why don't you leave my husband alone?" an irritated Chao responded. "Why don't you leave my husband alone?"
"I'm not trying to disrespect you, but why is he separating families?" another protester asked. "He is not," Chao snapped. As she walked to a waiting car, Chao pointed at one protester and said, "You leave him alone." Security kept the protesters away from the vehicle, and Chao climbed into the backseat, ignoring one demonstrator who yelled out, "How do you sleep at night?" Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
