A CNN commentator who worked as Bernie Sanders' campaign spokeswoman has blamed the murder of Mollie Tibbetts on 'toxic masculinity' and not weak immigration policies.

Symone Sanders took to Twitter on Wednesday to argue the point after a suspected illegal immigrant was arrested over the Iowa college student's death.

Cristhian Rivera, a 24-year-old from Mexico, was charged on Tuesday with killing Mollie and dumping her body in a cornfield in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa on July 18.

Soon after news of his arrest emerged, President Donald Trump led the calls for tougher immigration.

CNN commentator Symone Sanders took to Twitter on Wednesday to argue that Mollie Tibbetts was murdered because of 'toxic masculinity' and not weak immigration policies

Sanders hit out saying that Mollie was murdered because she told a man to leave her alone while she was jogging.

'Her murderer happens to be undocumented. This isn’t about border security. This is about toxic masculinity. Mollie Tibbetts lost her life because a man couldn’t take her saying no,' Sanders said.

'Her murderer actually might not even be undocumented. Regardless it is problematic for people to characterize an entire community based off the actions of one person.

'The majority of mass shootings in America are carried out by white men. So are we going to round them all up? That logic is asinine, archaic and flawed.'

Cristhian Rivera, a 24-year-old from Mexico, was charged on Tuesday with killing Mollie and dumping her body in a cornfield in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa on July 18

Sanders went on to say she wanted a real conversation about how women's lives were in danger because some men 'do not know how to check their egos'.

'Lest we continue to defile the life of #MollieTibbets with racist garbage some folks think is politically expedient that does nothing to address the root cause of the issue. Just stop,' she said.

The Mexican national charged over Mollie's death had been living in Iowa and, according to cops and the government, had been working illegally for anywhere between four and seven years, police said on Tuesday.

He was arrested after recently recovered surveillance footage led police to his Chevy Malibu following a month-long investigation into Mollie's disappearance.



