Ilhan Omar Calls Out Fox News’s ‘Hateful Rhetoric’ Over Afghan Refugees: ‘This is Their Playbook’
On MSNBC’s The ReidOut on Tuesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) called out Fox News over what she deems to be “hateful rhetoric” by some of the network’s hosts over Afghan refugees.
As part of the segment opening, soundbites were played from Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham objecting to the United States taking in Afghans fleeing their country, as the Taliban has taken over.
Teeing up Omar, a refugee who came to the United States from worn-torn Somalia, ReidOut host Joy Reid said, “Congresswoman, I’m not surprised. I’m just going to preface this by saying none of this is surprising that the people on the right who were just like 24 hours ago pretending to care about the Afghan, you know, people, suddenly are like, yeah, but don’t send any of them over here. But I would love to hear your thoughts.”
“Yeah, it is – it is not surprising, right?” Omar replied. “This is their playbook.”
“They know how to whip up their base into frenzy. The reality is that we’ve been in this conflict, in this war for 20 years. There are people who’ve helped us in this mission. There are people whose lives are going to be at risk, and we have to do everything that we can to bring them to safety,” she continued. “And we’ve done this many a times where we have evacuated people, airlifted them into safe spaces so that we can properly vet them and have them come to the United States as vetted refugees. I know a little bit about that, you know?”
“Yep,” said Reid.
“I know what it’s like to be a child in a family scrambling for safety in a war-torn country. I know the rigorous process you go through to get vetted as a refugee,” said Omar. “We are the most vetted people who come to the United States. The process is long, and it doesn’t just end when you arrive on the shores. It continues for years until you are eligible for citizenship at five years of entrance.”
“And so I really hope that people understand that there is a certain promise that we’ve made and we can’t break that promise. And that’s not a promise that the United States made, but it’s also a promise that our NATO allies have made,” she continued. “It’s a promise that neighboring countries should fulfill, and we have to do everything to make sure there is a multinational coalition leading this effort to save not just our allies but every Afghani who’s afraid for their lives, especially young women and, you know, vulnerable men as well.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
