CNN Anchor Confronts Panelist Over Declaration Certain ‘Cultures’ Not ‘Compatible’ with US: ‘How Does That Make Sense?’

CNN’s Abby Phillip pressed a panelist in a tense exchange to explain exactly what she means by saying certain cultures are “not compatible” with the United States and should not be let in.

New York Post correspondent Lydia Moynihan was among the panelists on CNN’s Saturday Morning Table for Five and she and Phillip tussled over President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration and his comments this week about accepting immigrants from “filthy, dirty, disgusting” countries riddled with crime, specifically mentioning Somalia.

Moynihan argued “certain cultures” are “not compatible” with the United States.

“Which ones?” Phillip pressed multiple times.

“Well, if we look at Europe, actually, there was a lawyer this week who argued that an Afghan immigrant who raped a woman shouldn’t be charged or shouldn’t have a penalty because his culture said that women weren’t free and equal. We’re seeing 77% of rapes in France are from migrants. So there is a real question that people on the right have about certain cultures,” Moynihan argued.

“What are the cultures?” Phillip asked.

“The cultures that are okay with that. The cultures that are okay with female genital mutilation,” Moynihan said.

“So I mean, is it it Afghanistan? Is it Africans? What is it?” Phillip asked

Phillip argued “culture” is a hard thing to define and leads to broad generalizations.

“What about the people fleeing female genital mutilation? Are you gonna allow them in? Are they allowed in? I mean, if you are if you are Somali, if you are Somali and you’re a woman and you’re fleeing, you’re actually trying to leave,” Phillip said as Moynihan bit back.

“They’re bringing it with them,” Moynihan said.

“If you wanna leave another country, Afghanistan, because you want to be able to read, the United States says you are not allowed in because culturally not compatible with this country. How does that make sense?” Phillip asked the table.

Moynihan noted that “vetting matters,” while Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) recalled the journey of his grandparents from Germany and Poland.

“My grandparents came from Germany and Poland to to escape the Holocaust. And before they got here the whole USS St Louis was turned away because Jewish culture was determined at that moment as non compatible,” he said.

“This is why vetting matters though, Moynihan said.

But I’m just saying that was not okay then and it’s not okay now,” Moskowitz responded.

Watch above via CNN.