Katrina Pierson, a spokeswoman for GOP front-runner Donald Trump's presidential campaign, said Wednesday that she can't take Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seriously after the tech billionaire made a thinly-veiled reference to her candidate's positions.
"Self-righteousness isn't very proactive: We can talk about taxes, we can talk about jobs and even immigration, but that doesn't really put food on the table and save lives," she told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."
"I think I'll take Mark Zuckerberg seriously when he gives up all of his private security, moves out of his posh neighborhood and comes live in a modest neighborhood near a border town, and then I'm sure his attitude would change," she added.
At Facebook's F8 developer conference on Tuesday, Zuckerberg spoke out against those seeking to build walls — physical and digital.
"As I look around and I travel around the world, I'm starting to see people and nations turning inward, against this idea of a connected world and a global community," he said. "I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as others. For blocking free expression, for slowing immigration, reducing trade, and in some cases around the world even cutting access to the internet."
Pierson fired back and said that Silicon Valley should stick to what they do that gives America a competitive advantage.
"The CEOs in Silicon Valley should focus on innovation and jobs and their businesses, and let the politicians make their policies," she said. "It's great that we can have innovation in this country, but you should be able to do that without putting the lives of Americans at risk."
Pierson said Trump's plans for increased immigration control would do more for the country than Zuckerberg's abstract ideals.
"You put up the wall. You stop the criminals. You stop the drug cartels. You protect the American citizens because you know who's coming and going into the country, which is something we don't know right now," Pierson said.
Trump has regularly spoken about building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to help control the flow of immigrants into the country.
Trump isn't the only politician to propose such a wall: One of his two remaining GOP competitors, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, has said that building "a wall that works" is part of his official immigration plan.
In addition to the immigration debate, Zuckerberg was also likely referencing the tight internet control maintained by countries like China — where Facebook is blocked by the "Great Firewall."
Trump leads the field in both national polls and delegates won among the remaining Republican presidential hopefuls, topping Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
He has yet to secure the 1,237 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination outright. With only 756 as of Wednesday, Trump will have to notch a series of victories in key upcoming primaries to avoid a contested Republican convention.
The next major test is the New York primary on April 19. Trump boasts a strong lead in recent statewide polls, averaging 33 percentage points above Kasich — his closest competitor in the state contest, according to RealClearPolitics.
—CNBC's Christine Wang contributed to this report.
