'Cruel': Ex-GOP lawmaker slams Trump's border czar for Dr. Phil stunt

Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) has a blunt message for President Donald Trump's border czar.

The one-time Tea Party lawmaker, who became an outspoken anti-MAGA voice after Trump's first election, reacted on X to a publicity stunt border security adviser Tom Homan pulled with celebrity psychologist and talk show host "Dr. Phil" McGraw. The pair filmed themselves cornering a Thai national detained in Chicago by authorities over an alleged history of sex crime charges.

"Have you been deported before?" McGraw asked him. "What have you been charged with? Are you a citizen?" The detainee, in handcuffs, said he wanted to speak to his lawyer.

The tough on illegal immigration message was clear — but Walsh wasn't buying it.

"'Dr Phil.' These targeted raids went on all the time under Obama, they went on all the time under Biden," wrote Walsh. "In fact, Obama, in each of his terms, deported way more people than Trump. Biden & Trump deported the same number.

"But neither Obama nor Biden chose to bring a talk show host along on the raids and post a video. Because neither Obama nor Biden is cruel."

Homan, who previously served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the start of Trump's first term, has been the focus of widespread controversy.

Prior to Trump taking office, he repeatedly threatened Democratic mayors with arrest if they get in the way of future ICE raids. He also suggested that the Trump administration could deport whole families together, even if their children were U.S. citizens — although he later tried to assure the public the priority would be to remove individuals who have committed serious crimes.