Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” host Chuck Todd said President Donald Trump’s executive halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries to the United States “established a religious test for refugees from those Muslim countries.” Todd said, “On Friday President Trump suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, closed the borders on passport holders from seven Muslim majority countries for three months and barred Syrian refugees indefinitely. And Mr. Trump established a religious test for refugees from those Muslim countries allowing an exception for Christians and others from minority religions.” (h/t RCP Video) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
Author: Pam Key
Chuck Todd: Trump Established a ‘Religious Test’ for Refugees From Muslim Countries
Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” host Chuck Todd said President Donald Trump’s executive halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries to the United States “established a religious test for refugees from those Muslim countries.” Todd said, “On Friday President Trump suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, closed the borders on passport holders from seven Muslim majority countries for three months and barred Syrian refugees indefinitely. And Mr. Trump established a religious test for refugees from those Muslim countries allowing an exception for Christians and others from minority religions.” (h/t RCP Video) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
Watch: Senate Minority Leader Schumer Tears Up as He Vows to Fight Trump’s Ban
Sunday at a press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) fought back tears as he vowed to do everything he can to “overturn” President Donald Trump’s executive order that halted immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries into the United States. Schumer said, “This executive order was mean spirited and un-American.” He added, “It must be reversed immediately. Senate Democrats are going to introduce legislation to overturn this and move it as quickly as we can.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
Keith Ellison: President Trump ‘Can’t Deny’ This is a Muslim Ban
Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,”discussing President Donald Trump executive order halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries into the United States, Democratic National Committee chair hopeful Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said the action was “a Muslim ban” and the Trump administration “can’t deny it is a Muslim ban.” Ellison said, “You know what, we never have had a religious based ban before. This is a Muslim ban and they can’t deny it is a Muslim ban. On the campaign trail he said he wanted a Muslim ban. He said on national television there would be other religious groups receiving priority. This is a Muslim ban. Rudy Giuliani who helped him write it said they started with the intention of a Muslim ban and then languaged it up to avoid that label. It is a religiously based ban which is something that — our constitution says congress shall make no law establishing a religion or bridge free exercise there of. This is a violation of equal protection. It’s a religiously based ban.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
Keith Ellison: President Trump ‘Can’t Deny’ This is a Muslim Ban
Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,”discussing President Donald Trump executive order halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries into the United States, Democratic National Committee chair hopeful Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said the action was “a Muslim ban” and the Trump administration “can’t deny it is a Muslim ban.” Ellison said, “You know what, we never have had a religious based ban before. This is a Muslim ban and they can’t deny it is a Muslim ban. On the campaign trail he said he wanted a Muslim ban. He said on national television there would be other religious groups receiving priority. This is a Muslim ban. Rudy Giuliani who helped him write it said they started with the intention of a Muslim ban and then languaged it up to avoid that label. It is a religiously based ban which is something that — our constitution says congress shall make no law establishing a religion or bridge free exercise there of. This is a violation of equal protection. It’s a religiously based ban.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
Durbin Won’t Rule Out a Filibuster Against Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee
On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) would not rule out a Democratic filibuster against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. Partial transcript as follows: WALLACE: Are you prepared to roll out a Democratic filibuster of this nominee? DURBIN: Let me just say, I not going to jump ahead and tell you how I’m going to treat any nominee until I know who they are, what they stand for. What we said is that if you bring us a moderate nominee and I told the White House this directly— WALLACE: Wait wait, not all of Barack Obama’s choices were moderate nominees. There were some pretty liberal nominees there. He won he is allowed to have people of his philosophical stripe. DURBIN: There is a different world here. When I listen to your lead in and Mitch McConnell said we just want to be treated the way we treated Obama nominees. Does he think we have amnesia? That he refused for the first time in the history of the senate to meet with or have a hearing or a vote on a Supreme Court nominee. We will treat this nominee fairly, but we need to know
McCain: Trump’s ‘Confused’ Ban May Fuel ISIS Propaganda
Sunday on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” discussing President Donald Trump executive order halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries into the United States, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said the process was “confused” and could give ISIS “some more propaganda.” McCain said, “It is a confused process which the good news is it’s only got to do with a pause. The bad news is obviously this process and conclusions were not vetted. There are so many questions, for example it didn’t filter down to our customs people who can come in, who can’t. Is a green card holders as was originally interpreted, who is legally in this country, can that person be bard from coming into the country?” He added, ‘“I think the effect will probably in some areas give ISIS some more propaganda.” (h/t The Hill) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
McConnell on Trump Immigration Executive Order: ‘I Don’t Want to Criticize Them for Improving Vetting’
Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” while discussing President Donald Trump executive order halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries to the United States, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, “the extent they’re trying to improve the vetting process, I think that’s in order.” “We need to bear in mind that we don’t have religious tests in this country and we also need to remember that some of our best allies in the war against Islamic terrorism are Muslims,” he added. Partial transcript as follows: RADDATZ: Do you support president Trump’s temporary immigration ban from these predominantly Muslim countries. SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, I think it’s a good idea to tighten the vetting process. But I also think it’s important to remember that some of our best sources in the war against radical Islamic terrorism are Muslims, both in this country and overseas. And we have had some difficulty in the past getting interpreters as you suggested in the earlier segment who are helpful to us treated properly. So we need to be careful as we do this. Improving vetting, something… RADDATZ: And yet right now they’re being detained so — do you support this or not support
ABC’s Raddatz to Spicer: Why Are Christian Refugees More Worthy Than Muslim Refugees?
Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” while discussing President Donald Trump executive order halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, guest host Martha Raddatz asked White House press secretary Sean Spicer why Christian refugees were “more worthy of admission to the United States than Muslims or even Jewish refugees?” Partial transcript as follows: RADDATZ: OK. The executive order also stipulates that after the refugee program is reinstated in 120 days, the government will prioritize religious minorities persecuted in their country. How will you determine what religion people are? How do you vet them? SPICER: During this 120-day period, we’re going to put a system in place that looks country by country, group by group, and make sure we put appropriate vetting in place. Again — RADDATZ: A religious test? SPICER: Hold on, no. What we’re going to do is make sure that people who have been persecuted for either religious or other reasons have an opportunity to apply and go through a vetting system that ensures they’re coming to this country to seek asylum, to seek a new life for themselves or their family, but to do so with peaceful purposes. RADDATZ: OK, President Trump said during an interview on the Christian
Conway Defends Bannon — He’s Saying ‘Why Don’t You Talk Less and Go Listen to America More’
On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” President Trump’s top aide Kellyanne Conway defended chief strategist to President Trump Stephen K. Bannon. While discussing Bannon’s statement that regarding the media and that it “should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile,” Conway said, “What my colleague Steve Bannon is saying is why don’t you talk less and go listen to America more.” She added, “The media failed to learn America.” (h/t The Hill) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN