President Obama, traveling in the Philippines, criticized presidential candidates for suggesting the U.S. should not take in some Syrian refugees in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris. The president said such talk is helping the terrorist group ISIS recruit. “I cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for ISIL than some of the rhetoric coming out of here in the course of this debate,” Obama said at a press conference in Manila.
According to the White House pool report, Obama did not mention any specific candidates or political parties, though he did make reference to some Republicans. “When candidates say we should not admit 3-year-old orphans, that’s political posturing,” Obama said. “When individuals say we should have religious tests, and only Christians, proven Christians, should be allowed, that’s offensive and contrary to American values.”
New Jersey governor Chris Christie earlier today said the U.S. should not accept anymore refugees, even “5-year-old orphans.” And Ted Cruz, the Texas senator, has suggested only Muslim refugees should be barred from entering the country.
But it’s not just presidential candidates or even just Republicans who are calling for reconsidering allowing refugees from the war-torn Middle Eastern nation to enter the U.S. House speaker Paul Ryan has proposed “pausing” the refugee program, and even New Hampshire’s Democratic governor Maggie Hassan has called for a halt to refugees entering her state.
But Obama scolded American leaders for speaking about refugees this way. “ISIL seeks to exploit the idea that there’s war between Islam and the West, and when you start seeing individuals in position of responsibility suggesting Christians are more worthy of protection than Muslims are in a war-torn land that feeds the ISIL narrative,” the president said. “It’s counterproductive. And it needs to stop.”
