Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose sprawling corporate empire includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, on Tuesday called for a “pause” in U.S. policy to admit thousands of refugees, many of whom are fleeing from the Islamic State terrorist network in the Middle East.
Murdoch waded into the controversy in light of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who said this week that the U.S. should close its borders to Muslims.
“Has Trump gone too far?” Murdoch said on Twitter. “Regardless, public is obsessed on radical Muslim dangers, complete refugee pause to fix vetting makes sense.”
Has Trump gone too far? Regardless, public is obsessed on radical Muslim dangers, Complete refugee pause to fix vetting makes sense.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) December 8, 2015
Intelligence officials in the Obama administration have warned that terrorists could infiltrate the U.S. by way of the refugee program, but the president has maintained that the vetting process is sufficiently extensive and solid.
Murdoch has caused controversy before in public comments about Islamic extremism.
In January, after the deadly terrorist attack at the newsroom of a satirical magazine in Paris, Murdoch wrote on Twitter, “Maybe most Moslems peaceful but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer, they must be held responsible.”
Some interpreted that to mean Murdoch was saying all Muslims bear responsibility for radicalized terrorists and he later amended the comment.
“Certainly did not mean all Muslims responsible for terrorist attack,” he said again on Twitter. “But Muslim community must debate and confront extremism.”
