During last night's GOP primary debate former governor and ostensible Man of the Cloth Mike Huckabee was asked if America should "open its doors" to Syrian refugees.
As one might guess Huckabee said 'no,' in so many words, but he also implied that "so-called Syrian refugees" aren't really Syrian.
HUCKABEE: "The idea [that] we’re just going to open our doors, and have no idea who these people are? What we do know is one out of five of the so-called Syrian refugees who went into Europe were actually Syrian. We had no idea who they were. They weren’t Syrian.
Are we going to open the door so ISIS people come on in, give them a place to stay and a good sandwich and medical benefits? My gosh, we’re $19 trillion in debt, we can’t afford to take care of Americans. If we’re going to do something for the Syrians, find out who they really are, and the ones really in danger."
I had no idea that Refugee Truthers are a thing that exists.
If words have meaning, the idea that only one out of five "so-called Syrian refugees" are actually Syrian makes no sense. If they've fled their homes in Syria, what else could they be?
As it turns out, the "one out of five" statistic is just as misleading as you might imagine. According to figures released by the EU earlier this year, Syrian refugees only account for 20 percent of all refugees seeking asylum in Europe, but those numbers were calculated before a massive influx of Syrian refugees arrived in Europe. As of today, Syrian refugees account for more than half of all refugees seeking asylum in Europe.
Politifact examined Huckabee's claim last night and rated it "mostly false" but personally I'd say his pants are on fire.
In any event, Huckabee clearly does not believe we have a responsiblity to alleviate a humanitarian crisis.
I was going to ask what Jesus would do, but Huckabee has made it clear that Jesus would tell the refugees to go fuck themselves. He certainly wouldn't feed the lot of them with loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus is going to need proof that you aren't a member of ISIS before he makes you a fish sandwich.
I jest, but Mike Huckabee is a despicable piece of human waste.