WAR OF WORDS: The White House and the Department of Homeland Security are firing back at Democrats and the media, alleging that a viral story about a 5-year-old being used as “human bait” is a “malicious lie.” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson condemned what the administration views as mainstream media working “hand-in-glove with Democrats” to spread misinformation about ICE operations. “It’s shameful that the media so quickly runs with the fake Democrat narrative without first getting the facts. Here’s the reality: ICE officers work heroically with the utmost professionalism to make American communities safer. In this instance, they stayed with a child who was abandoned by his father — an illegal alien from Ecuador.”

Corporate media ICE demonization was condemned as a “malicious lie” by the White House after outlets ran with a “fake Democrat narrative” about an abandoned child.

From their favorite “Maryland man” to an “unarmed mother” who left a federal immigration officer with internal bleeding after striking him with her vehicle, the so-called fake news has proven time and again to have no qualms with misleading spin. Now, a new low alleging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had used a child as “human bait” found the White House responding with the “reality” on the work of ICE and the decisions made by the parents responsible for a 5-year-old.

Earlier in the week, as Democrats like Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar had deemed ICE “Absolutely vile” for allegedly detaining Liam Conejo Ramos, the Department of Homeland Security made clear the boy’s father, Ecuadorian Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, had left his son behind to flee the scene on foot.

Reacting to the pile-on from the left that had included former Vice President Kamala Harris, deemed the border czar of the Biden-Harris administration, White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told Fox News,

“It’s shameful that the media so quickly runs with the fake Democrat narrative without first getting the facts. Here’s the reality: ICE officers work heroically with the utmost professionalism to make American communities safer. In this instance, they stayed with a child who was abandoned by his father — an illegal alien from Ecuador,” ashe said s she denounced claims the child was used as “human bait” as little more than a “malicious lie.”

Executive Assistant Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Marcos Charles indicated, “My officers stayed with the child. They cared for him, took him to get something to eat from a drive-through restaurant, and spent hours ensuring he was taken care of. Again, my officers did that, not his father.”

He also detailed, “My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family. Tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, the people inside refused to take him in and open the door. Let me say it again: they saw the young boy, and they refused to open the door and take him back.”

Along those lines, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller responded to a post that read, “For the record: ICE made repeated attempts to have 5-year-old Liam Ramos released to his mother. She refused to take custody of her own child,” by writing, “Veteran of ICE will tell you this is extremely common.”

Likewise, Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin had shared firsthand experience from covering the border under the Biden-Harris administration, during which over 500,000 kids had been “abandoned by smugglers at the border … 18,954 of these children recovered by CBP in July 2021 alone.”

“It appears that after a 4 year hiatus — some politicians suddenly have a reignited interest in the subject,” he added as the White House captioned his post, “Friendly reminder!! Joe Biden’s open border policies put over 500,000 children in danger!”

Meanwhile, in only the latest example of leftists threatening the safety of children, agitators protesting widow Erika Kirk’s “Make Heaven Crowded” tour included one seething at a mother holding a baby, “F*ck that child! F*ck both of your kids! Drop it! Drop it! Drop it!”