Dem Rep Moulton: Trump’s ‘Un-American’ Immigration Ban ‘Is Harming Our National Security’

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) said President Donald Trump executive order halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries to the United States was “un-American” and “harming our national security.”

Partial transcript as follows:

RADDATZ: You had some pretty strong words for Donald Trump, tweeting, “Your Muslim ban is completely at odds with our most fundamental value, freedom. I’m ashamed that you are our president.”

MOULTON: That’s absolutely right. It’s fundamentally un-American and it’s also making America less safe. And that’s something that Americans need to understand today, is that what Trump is doing is harming our national security. It will incite attacks against us. ISIS is already using this ban as propaganda. And it will prevent us from being able to get the allies that are so critical in our war against terror.

RADDATZ: But if he believes there is a threat and he is the president, he is Commander-in-Chief — Sean Spicer just said he believes the threat is real, he’s trying to protect people — why not do this?

MOULTON: Because there’s nothing in his executive order that improves the vetting process. He’s just putting across a blanket ban that will be used against us. And I know personally how important it is to be able to rely on these allies overseas. I know how ISIS can use our words against us. And what Trump is doing will make the fight against terror more difficult. So, he’s not making us more safe at all. Look, it’s totally reasonable for a president to come in and say we need to have a national security review. What he’s doing in the fight against ISIS to say how can we better attack terrorists in the Middle East? That’s fine. That’s reasonable. But what he’s doing with this Muslim ban just is so wrong and un-American, you see why so many Americans across the country are rising up against it.

RADDATZ: And they will tell you again and again, it is not a Muslim ban.

MOULTON: Let’s be honest, I mean I think Rudy Giuliani was just on TV saying that Trump called him and asked, how do I do a legal Muslim ban? There’s no question what’s going on here. We’re not stupid. We see what Trump is up to.

RADDATZ: I want to know what you would say to General Mattis and General Kelly about this, who certainly relied on interpreters in Iraq, as well.

MOULTON: You know, I worked for General Mattis. I know him. There is no way in hell that he is supportive of this. He relied on translators for his life, just like I did. He understands what it means to put your life in the hands of an Iraqi or an Afghan. And he also knows that implicit in that is that they put their lives in our hands, as well. And now we’re abandoning them. So what’s frightening about this situation is it shows that people like General Mattis and General Kelly clearly don’t have a voice in the Trump administration, that Trump is just doing things for political gain, not in the best interests of our national security.

RADDATZ: OK, thanks very much, Congressman.

(h/t The Hill)