In a tirade on Monday, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith dismissed legitimate security concerns in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks as a “collective freak-out” that was potentially “dangerous.” He then proceeded to condemn anyone opposed to bringing thousands of Syrian refugees to the United States as “extreme forces within our own political system” that lead us “towards self-destruction.”
Talking to former Ambassador Edward ‘Skip’ Gnehm on his 3 p.m. ET hour show, Smith ranted: “You can hit us. But when they hit us, these extreme voices, Skip, are gonna step forward again and try to lead us all right off a cliff. I hear them today....history is extremely clear, when you demonize broad swaths of people, you get what you call them. That’s what you get. You reap it, you will sow it.”
Gnehm then made the absurd comparison to the Holocaust and Japanese internment:
You're very, very right and we’ve had tragic situations in the world, going back to World War II with the Jewish community, just as the biggest example, the Holocaust. You know, this is not where we want to go. I once had a friend – well, not a friend really – but someone that I knew – tell me that we ought to round up every Muslim in the country and put them in camps so that they can't do anything. I said we've been through this. We did this with Japanese Americans and we’ve apologize now for sixty years for doing that because they were loyal Americans.
Smith wrapped up the segment: “This migrant crisis is one of the biggest catastrophes of the modern age. Millions and millions of people with nowhere to go. And if they have no where to go in the end, what will happen to those millions of people, and then, who are we? And what’s left to protect?”
Continuing his ravings at the end of show, Smith proclaimed:
In the face of terror, will we panic or be calm and deliberative in approach? Confronted with those who want to change our way of life, will we abandon our freedoms and the rights granted to us by the creator, or will we welcome huddled masses, yearning to breathe free? Will we take extreme measures to fundamentally alter who and what we are?...Today we mourn but we cannot allow ourselves to become like those who want to destroy us. We cannot resort to the tactics of the barbarians....And must not let the rhetoric of potential and political extremists among us lead us to self-destruction.
Here is a full transcript of the November 16 coverage:
3:39 PM ET
SHEPARD SMITH: Let's bring in Ambassador Edward ‘Skip’ Gnehm, he’s a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and state. He’s now the director of the Middle East forum at George Washington University and live with us from our Washington newsroom. Sir, it’s great to see you, thank you.
EDWARD GNEHM: Hi, Shep.
SMITH: I had hoped to talk to you after the next attack, whenever it came. Well, it's come. The pendulum has been bumped again. The collective freak-out is on. It's understandable on some level, and dangerous on others, you've told us.
GNEHM: Yes, indeed, that's quite right. And I guess, you know, one of the quotes that comes to my mine almost immediately is the one that Roosevelt used a long time ago. What? 70, 80 years ago? “The only thing we have to be concerned about is fear itself.” I don’t we should let this destroy our – what we believe in. We can fight this. And we will fight it. And I think in the end we will succeed, but it's not gonna be easy.
SMITH: Sometimes in the fog of terror, we forget what we believe in. We as individuals and collectively sometimes, we follow extreme forces within our own political system towards self-destruction. And guarding against it is God's work, it seems.
GNEHM: I agree with you entirely. And I think we can do it and we will do it, but we have to be prepared for some more bad times. The capability of this organization to strike around the world is evident, but it’s also clear. And you know, it's not just Paris, right? The plane from Egypt, the Russian plane. Two major attacks in Turkey. The attacks in Yemen and other countries. I mean, they have already demonstrated an ability to reach out into areas that they don't control, such as Iraq and Syria.
SMITH: Clearly if they want to hit us, they're gonna hit us. There's always a soft target. This is America, we're free, we’re open, we’re tolerant, we’re inclusive. You can hit us. But when they hit us, these extreme voices, Skip, are gonna step forward again and try to lead us all right off a cliff. I hear them today. What are we supposed to do when we hear these strategies that change the very who we are?
GNEHM: Well, I think we have to do what we're doing right now, and that's talk about it in public. Calling to mind for us Americans what we believe in and what we care about and what we are and what we're going to be. We're not going to let them change us. We're not gonna go and hide or react in a way that undermines what we are as a people. And I think that’s really important.
SMITH: And I guess part of that is not demonizing broad classes of people. Because when you do that sort of thing, history is extremely clear, when you demonize broad swaths of people, you get what you call them. That’s what you get. You reap it, you will sow it.
GNEHM: You're very, very right and we’ve had tragic situations in the world, going back to World War II with the Jewish community, just as the biggest example, the Holocaust. You know, this is not where we want to go. I once had a friend – well, not a friend really – but someone that I knew – tell me that we ought to round up every Muslim in the country and put them in camps so that they can't do anything. I said we've been through this. We did this with Japanese Americans and we’ve apologize now for sixty years for doing that because they were loyal Americans.
SMITH: Well, Ambassador, they're gonna hit us, we know they’re gonna hit us, and when they hit us, I hope you'll be right back here very quickly and very often to remind us all that if we change who we are, there's nothing left to protect.
GNEHM: That’s very, very true.
SMITH: Skip Gnehm, you're a good man. I appreciate you being here.
GNEHM: Thank you for inviting me.
SMITH: A Syrian passport investigators found in Paris is sparking a big debate around the world. In one or more of the attackers – did one or more of the attackers hide among Syrian refugees? Should that change the way the United States and other countries deal with the migrant crisis? This migrant crisis is not – is not something of concept. This migrant crisis is one of the biggest catastrophes of the modern age. Millions and millions of people with nowhere to go. And if they have no where to go in the end, what will happen to those millions of people, and then, who are we? And what’s left to protect? The migrant catastrophe and how this will change it, coming up.
(...)
3:58 PM
SMITH: Our coverage of the attack on Paris, the investigation, and the hunt for suspects will continue. Our collective heart, of course, is with the victims and the people of France. And it seems to me we the people have a responsibility now to protect that which we hold dear. In the face of terror, will we panic or be calm and deliberative in approach? Confronted with those who want to change our way of life, will we abandon our freedoms and the rights granted to us by the creator, or will we welcome huddled masses, yearning to breathe free? Will we take extreme measures to fundamentally alter who and what we are?
Our shining city on a hill is vulnerable. We've always known that. If we change it to accommodate the savages, have they won? And what then would be left to protect? We profess to stand as an example for all the world. Our unique experiment in freedom, tolerance, openness, and equality is our gift to societies and peoples everywhere. “Come join us. Enjoy a chance at the American dream.” Today we mourn but we cannot allow ourselves to become like those who want to destroy us. We cannot resort to the tactics of the barbarians. We might fight for what we believe in and who we are, guard or freedoms faithfully for the generations to follow. And must not let the rhetoric of potential and political extremists among us lead us to self-destruction. When there’s panic, we show resolve. When there’s call for extremism, we resist. We are America. We must lead.
