Cuomo’s overall tone fit the very definition of loaded questions and a liberal agenda. The ABC anchor, whose brother is the Democratic Attorney General of New York, began the segment by aggressively inquiring, "Why did you feel the need to rip a bill like this down?"
He continued with a query about why Tancredo, who is also running for president, opposed a "humane" solution:
Chris Cuomo: "A majority of Americans want a humane solution. The numbers are in favor of giving some type of amnesty to these people. Isn't that the humane solution? Why are you so adamantly opposed to it?"
Tom Tancredo: "Here is how you handle it. It's called, it’s called attrition through enforcement. If we actually begin to enforce the laws, secure our border and enforce the law against people hiring people who are here illegally, you will see attrition. People go home if they cannot get the thing for which they came. And then they get in line and they come in the same way anybody else does."
Of course, Cuomo only presented half the story. Yes, a majority of Americans do support some type of guest worker plan. But most polls find agreement on enforcing existing immigration laws. Additionally, as the MRC’s Tim Graham pointed out, a New York Times poll found that 69 percent of Americans said illegal aliens should be prosecuted and deported. (Of course, the Times included this only in a PDF file online and not in their May 25 article.)
Cuomo continued with his hostile questions. He lectured the Congressman with this observation about Tancredo’s use of "scary" words:
Cuomo: "You're in favor of the 700-mile fence. You use, frankly, a scary word like balkanization as a result of what could have come about from a bill like this. Do you think you're driving anti-immigrant sentiment?"
It should be pointed out that wondering if Tancredo is "driving anti immigrant sentiment" is desperately close to accusing the Colorado legislator of inciting bigotry. Finally, the anchor from the well connected liberal family closed the piece by asking the 2008 presidential candidate, "...Do you think if your mentality that you have right now existed when your ancestors were trying to get into this country, do think you would even be here right now?"
Of course, Tancredo responded by pointing out that past waves of immigrants felt the need to assimilate into America.
A complete transcript of the segment, which aired at 7:10am on June 8, follows:
ABC Graphic: "Why was Immigration Bill Killed? Major Defeat For White House"
Cuomo: "Let's get back to our top story of the morning, the death of the immigration reform bill. This was a big deal in the Senate. It was lauded as a major compromise to solve a major national problem. But a two-week campaign against the bill paid off last night when it was pulled for consideration. Now, one of the leading critics of the bill is Colorado GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo, who is running for president. I spoke to him about it this morning from Ames, Iowa. Good morning, Congressman. And thank you for joining us. And let's set the stage here. You have the President and Ted Kennedy on the same side trying to compromise on this bill. You have the polls showing early on that people were behind what it was fundamentally about. Why did you feel the need to rip a bill like this down?"
Congressman Tom Tancredo: "Well, because, of course, the whole idea of this bill was to provide amnesty for 12 to 20 million people working here. They started out with that as their goal and then began to build on it certain things that they thought would attract other people, and they put in triggers to say that, you know, we will eventually get some sort of border security. But all of the triggers were, well, out our way we call it all hat and no cattle. There was nothing that would do anything about security."
Cuomo: "A majority of Americans want a humane solution. The numbers are in favor of giving some type of amnesty to these people. Isn't that the humane solution? Why are you so adamantly opposed to it?"
Tancredo: "Here is how you handle it. It's called, it’s called attrition through enforcement. If we actually begin to enforce the laws, secure our border and enforce the law against people hiring people who are here illegally, you will see attrition. People go home if they cannot get the thing for which they came. And then they get in line and they come in the same way anybody else does."
Cuomo: "You're in favor of the 700-mile fence. You use, frankly, a scary word like balkanization as a result of what could have come about from a bill like this? Do you think you're driving anti-immigrant sentiment?"
Tancredo: "A lot of people who come have no desire to assimilate and, and the government itself, here, our society, has no desire to force them to, kind of, assimilate. We will teach them in a language other than English. We will encourage them to stay separate. That is balkanization and it is a scary thing. And I don't want it in America."
Cuomo: "Let me just make a point to you and tell me how you respond to it. When you say we need something to bring us together, isn't what brings us together in this country, this sense of interconnectedness of everyone? Don't you and I share similar ancestry? Do you think if your mentality that you have right now existed when your ancestors were trying to get into this country, do think you would even be here right now?"
Tancredo: "Let me tell you– My ancestors, the mentality that existed when they came and I think a bulk of the people who came. They wanted, of course, the same thing people who are coming today want and that's a job, a better life. That's true. That's the thing they had in common. But there was something else. They wanted desperately to cut from the past and connect to the new. And one of the ways that they showed they wanted to do that was to immediately accept the idea that they needed to learn English. And, and that is the common bond that I was talking about. That is the thing that does hold us together. We need something like that. We need to be able to communicate with each other."
Cuomo: "Senator Reid says he's hoping to reintroduce the bill, that while it may be procedurally dead now, it will come back in some incarnation soon. What will you do if a bill is reintroduced?"
Tancredo: "Well, the same thing I did when this one was introduced. I worked as hard as I possibly could to defeat it, because his issue is huge. The stakes are enormous. I'm not doing this simply because I like to, to debate these issues early in the morning, although it is pleasant enough. The fact is I'm doing it because I believe with all my heart that the nation is at risk and that this is an important, an enormously important topic and we have to get it right."
Cuomo: "Congressman, I appreciate you coming on to talk through this issue as well. Hopefully, you’ll come again."
Tancredo: "I hope so to."
Robin Roberts: "Because the immigration debate will continue."
