New York Rep. Peter King and MSNBC's "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski openly sparred on live television Tuesday morning over the issue of vetting Syrian refugees coming into the United States, with the lawmaker telling her she was "100 percent wrong" on the issue.
"We cannot get the refugees from Syria," the New York Republican, who is a member of the House Homeland Security and Intelligence committees, told her. "When I talk to people involved in the vetting, they have no confidence at all in the people that are being allowed in. People talk about vetting, [but] there is no vetting. That is the reality."
Brzezinski, though, insisted to the congressman that there are already "face-to-face interviews, health screenings. Often it takes two years for a family to get here. "
"Mika, you're entirely wrong," King told her, and she replied, "Actually sir, I think you're wrong."
King replied that he has met with the people who are doing the interviews and he's been talking to people "involved in the highest levels of government," and none have confidence at all in the screening procedures.
"But the vetting is happening whether you like it or not," Brzezinski insisted.
"It is not a real vetting," he responded. "You cannot vet. You have nothing to base it against. You are 100 percent wrong."
King also denied that his resistance is just about Syrians.
"Unless we know who the refugees are, we cannot let them in," he told Brzezinski. "My job is to protect Americans. If Americans get killed because we're letting people in because they are not properly vetted, they cannot be properly vetted. You are wrong."
The case this time, said King, is different than the past, because the United States was not dealing at that time with an organization like ISIS, which is involved in terrorist activities.
"I supported 150,000 Bosnians coming into this nation," said King. "This was not a risk to this nation. I would say we find a sanctuary for them in the Middle East. Until then, we cannot put Americans at risk."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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