Incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said the government will not have a registry of people “based on a religion” but did say he would not rule out anything with respect to preventing radicalized people from entering the United States. Speaking with Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Priebus said there are some people that should not enter the country because of their radical views.
“Can you equivocally [sic] rule out a registry for Muslims?” Todd asked.
“Um, look, I’m not going to rule out anything, but we’re not going to have a registry based on a religion,” Priebus said. “There are some people that are radicalized, and there are some people that have to be prevented from coming into this country.”
Priebus argued that President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal does not significantly differ from bills in Congress that would “temporarily suspend” immigration from countries that harbor terrorists or terrorist organizations “until a better vetting system is put in place.”
Todd pressed Priebus on whether Trump agrees with his recently named National Security Advisor Michael Flynn that a fear of Muslims is “rational” when it comes to terrorist suspects.
“He believes that no faith in and of itself should be judged as a whole,” Priebus said. “But there are some people…that need to be prevented from coming into this country.”
