Fox News contributor mocked for wearing tiny bullet-proof vest in broadcast from Mexico border

‘What is this? A vest for ants?’

A Fox News contributor has been ridiculed after he posed for a photograph at the US-Mexico border while dressed in what appears to be a small bulletproof vest.

Lawrence Jones III, who is the editor-in-chief of Campus Reform, a conservative website, posted the photograph on Twitter on Thursday.

“Coming up on Fox News live from the border,” he wrote alongside the image.

The Twitter post was met with mockery, with journalists and public figures questioning why Mr Jones was dressed as though in a war zone while standing in a part of the US.

“Does “live from the border” mean Party City?” Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a congresswoman from New York, wrote in response.

“Fox is really out here doing the most on a budget to make the border look more dangerous than it is,” she added.

Jacob Soboroff, a correspondent for MSNBC, said wearing a vest was “totally ridiculous”.

“I have never once worn a bulletproof vest at the border, nor has [US Customs and Border Protection] ever asked me to – even while on a chase with Border Patrol to apprehend migrants in remote Arizona desert in the middle of the night,” he said.

“Because. The. Border. Is. Not. A. War. Zone."

Mr Jones said the agents he was with asked him to wear the vest. He also thanked them on Twitter for keeping him safe.

Other commenters on social media questioned whether the vest had plates inserted.

Still more chose to mock the its apparent size, including writer Jessica Luther, who asked ”what is this? A vest for ants?”

The US-Mexico border is currently at the centre of a political firestorm in the US and anti-immigration politicians have claimed that the area is dangerous.

A Fox News spokesperson pointed to Mr Jones' tweets when asked for comment.