Chrissy Teigen lambasts Ivanka Trump for 'complete lack of empathy' over child separation

‘It’s a painful thing to see that,’ says TV star

Chrissy Teigen has criticised Ivanka Trump for showing a “complete lack of empathy” over the Trump administration’s now-defunct child separation policy.

Participating in a panel event at the House Democratic Caucus retreat on Wednesday, the mother-of-two was asked to explain how images of children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border affected her.

“It’s a painful thing to see that and it’s a painful thing to see such a complete lack of empathy,” Ms Teigen said.

“When it comes from people, like Ivanka, I will say, that can post all day pictures of her children that are just in her home and ‘Oh my daughter is having trouble in her crib’ or ‘My daughter is doing this’ ... there are children out there that don’t have that opportunity,” the former Sports Illustrated model added.

Ms Teigen was speaking alongside husband, musician John Legend, who described the thought of being separated from one’s child as “heartbreaking”.

Ms Teigen continued: “I cannot fathom for a second how scared our children would be if they were without us.”

Last summer, the White House’s controversial “zero tolerance” policy saw adults illegally crossing the US-Mexico border face prosecution, meaning their children were taken from then and put into governmental custody. The policy has since been discontinued.

At the time, Ms Trump, who has three children with husband Jared Kushner, expressed thanks to her father on Twitter for abolishing the policy.

“Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border,” she tweeted on 20 June.

“Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values; the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavour to create a better life for their families.”

In a subsequent tweet, the 37-year-old added: “It is time to focus on swiftly and safely reuniting the families that have been separated.”