Kinzinger: Those Calling Afghan Refugees Invaders — Either ‘Evil in Your Heart’ or ‘a Charlatan’

Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that those in the Republican Party or right-wing media calling Afghan refugees as invaders are either “evil” or charlatans.

Guest anchor Brianna Keilar said, “You mentioned the efforts that you are undertaking, and many other veterans are joining you in this as well, trying to get Afghans, their friends, out of Afghanistan. You are seeing in your party what appears to be a trend for some politicians seeing opportunity in this. They’re painting Afghan refugees as invaders. You know, there are undertones even of racism here. What is your message to people in your party who are doing that?”

Kinzinger said, “For sure. Look, here is the thing. Most Republican members of Congress, for instance, I think when we talked about doing this Afghan SIV program, we had a vote on that recently, and only 16 Republicans voted against it. Those 16 Republicans face should be everywhere and should be asked why they did what they did. In the media echo chamber, this fear-mongering, they’re coming to your neighborhood, these hoards of people that haven’t been vetted. That is not America. You know, you can always have questions with how this was executed, but America’s always been the country that opens our heart. And, by the way, refugees to this country have always been the ones that are extremely entrepreneurial. We all know that. They come here. They work hard. They fight hard for success. And so if anybody wants to go out and fear monger and continue that darkness in your heart and speak it so you can win an election, A, you’re either evil in your heart yourself or, B, you’re a charlatan, and you can’t say you care about the American people if you’re out there, doing stuff like that.”

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