CNN panelist Tara Setmayer, a raging liberal, went on a tirade during a heated discussion on July 1, 2026, concerning the issue of birthright citizenship, claiming that Republican arguments about China using birth tourism to secure citizenship for their children are a “bunch of bulls**t.” Setmayer’s comments were made during a panel on CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip while conversing about the history of the government’s crackdown on birth tourism.
For those who aren’t familiar with the term, birth tourism is when foreign nationals come to the United States with the express and sole intention of giving birth on American soil to secure their children’s citizenship. When the children become adults, they are then able to sponsor their parents to come to the country legally.
Earlier in the week, the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship as constitutional, citing the 14th Amendment, delivering a blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to put a stop to birth tourism in the United States. The court’s decision prompted top Trump adviser Stephen Miller to say that the administration would now be taking a “hard look” at banning pregnant visitors to the country.
According to a report from Mediaite, Setmayer began her rant while responding to the lengthy discussion, speaking on the country’s upcoming 250th anniversary. “Now, what we just saw should scare the hell out of every American. We’re about to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country. You know, I actually did a very touristy thing today. For the first time in like 10 years, I took one of those sightseeing boats, and I passed by Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty,” she began.
“And it brought me to tears because I’m looking at how far our country has come under these, under the leadership of people like this, and the hypocrisy of people like Stephen Miller, whose own family were Jews who came to this country to escape what happened in Germany, and the despicable things that come out of his mouth, and a lot of these other people,” Setmayer continued.
Setmayer then talked about her own connection to Ellis Island by bringing up her Italian heritage. “And I thought about my own family that came here through Ellis Island in 1924. Could you imagine — I mean, my Italian, my Sicilian family, you know what they were called when they came here? All kinds of things. Irish families, all of those things, and but they were still able to survive and persevere in this country,” she said.
“And that nativist kind of language that’s coming back, that anyone that — you know, if you’re pregnant, if you — what if you got a tan and you’re pregnant, and somebody suspects, oh, well, you must be from one of those sh*thole countries that Trump doesn’t like. What have we become? This is — and targeting women?” Setmayer added.
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New York Post writer Lydia Moynihan offered some pushback saying that birth tourism is a “legitimate concern.” Setmayer responded, “It’s a concern about this big, when that’s not what they’re talking about.” Moynihan then asked, “Why can’t we accept the concern?” She replied, “If that’s such a concern, sweetheart, how come none of them said anything about CCP agents? They targeted women and minorities.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video