On Tuesday's New Day, during a discussion of the legal battle over the Trump administration's efforts to implement a travel ban targeting several predominantly Muslim countries, CNN co-host Chris Cuomo claimed that there was "BS" in the administration perceiving more danger from illegal immigrants and Muslim immigrants, and claimed that Trump had "called all Muslims bad people."
And, even though CNN and other dominant left-leaning media sources are in the habit of cherry picking examples of black suspects being killed by police officers while ignoring the many more white suspects who are also killed by the police, -- leading many, including some journalists, to believe most cases involve blacks -- Cuomo accused President Donald Trump of "cherry picking" cases of illegal immigrants committing crimes to exaggerate the danger.
At 6:25 a.m. ET, Cuomo turned to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin and, referring to President Trump, posed: "He's got a better legal case -- you would agree -- than he does a political case here."
Toobin was skeptical of Cuomo's take as the liberal CNN analyst responded: "I'm not sure about that. I mean, politically, do you think Muslim immigration is very popular?"
Even though studies have found that illegal immigrants have a higher crime rate than either legal immigrants or natural-born American citizens, Cuomo again seemed to fall back on the debunked claims alleging low crime rates by illegals as he responded:
I don't know that it's popular -- I'm saying, in terms of making a case to the American people about here is a perceptible threat when it comes to refugees is in defiance of the statistics. They don't have a statistical basis.
The CNN host added:
That's why they cherry pick these one-off cases around the country to say, "Hey, look at this guy. He's an illegal and he killed somebody, and these two guys raped somebody -- oh, wait, that didn't happen." They're cherry-picking cases ... (inaudible) ... statistics aren't there.
Toobin then voiced agreement with Cuomo's claims about crime statistics:
I think you're right -- I think you're right as a factual matter that, you know, Muslim immigrants -- any immigrants are not a great threat to the American people. But, politically, I think it's a lot more complicated.
Right-leaning CNN political commentator David Drucker then jumped in to recall that Trump's positions on immigration reform boosted his election:
Look, politically, inside the Republican party, it obviously worked because even after he announced the Muslim ban and everybody freaked out, the truth is it made him stronger with Republican electorate. I think that --
Cuomo then jumped back in to accuse Trump of "demagoguery" and claimed that the President "called all Muslims bad people" as he responded:
There is something to demagoguery also. I mean, that's what I'm saying. When he had on his website, Donald J. Trump's statement on preventing Muslim immigration, he was pandering to a base. But now that he's the President of a very mixed country in terms of an ethnic and religious backgrounds, you can't just call all Muslims bad people and get away with it when the facts are something else.
After Drucker argued that Trump should have focused on "vetting" rather than "ethno-religious" issues, Cuomo persisted: "Till you compare them to non-Muslim terror threats and cases that the government is looking at, which are much larger in number and degree than you have of Muslims."
After Drucker responded, "Right. I'm just saying, rhetorically, remember --", Cuomo injected: "But I'm saying it's a BS basis, though. That's what I'm saying."
Drucker did not dispute Cuomo's arguments as he concluded:
Yeah, no, and I'm not really arguing that, but I think that the point here is, you never lose points if you're a political candidate by saying we have a problem with radical Islamic terror, but you do lose points if you target Muslims and say that they specifically are the problem without dealing with the larger aspect of the national security part of this.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, May 9, New Day on CNN:
6:25 a.m. ET
CHRIS CUOMO: He's got a better legal case -- you would agree -- than he does a political case here.JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I'm not sure about that. I mean, politically, do you think Muslim immigration is very popular?
CUOMO: I don't know that it's popular -- I'm saying, in terms of making a case to the American people about here is a perceptible threat when it comes to refugees is in defiance of the statistics. They don't have a statistical basis. That's why they cherry pick these one-off cases around the country to say, "Hey, look at this guy. He's an illegal and he killed somebody, and these two guys raped somebody -- oh, wait, that didn't happen." They're cherry-picking cases ... (inaudible) ... statistics aren't there.
TOOBIN: I think you're right -- I think you're right as a factual matter that, you know, Muslim immigrants -- any immigrants are not a great threat to the American people. But, politically, I think it's a lot more complicated.
DAVID DRUCKER, CNN POLITLCAL COMMENTATOR: Look, politically, inside the Republican party, it obviously worked because even after he announced the Muslim ban and everybody freaked out, the truth is it made him stronger with Republican electorate. I think that --
CUOMO: There is something to demagoguery also. I mean, that's what I'm saying. When he had on his website, Donald J. Trump's statement on preventing Muslim immigration, he was pandering to a base. But now that he's the President of a very mixed country in terms of an ethnic and religious backgrounds, you can't just call all Muslims bad people and get away with it when the facts are something else.
DRUCKER: You can't, but I actually think that if he approached this from a holistic manner where he looked at the domestic terror attacks that we have experienced in the last couple of years and try to attack the problems that have led to those individuals either becoming radicalized because they were U.S. citizens who became radicalized, or they immigrated here and were naturalized or became legal immigrants and what did we miss in the vetting that let them in, there would be a lot of support for that if he focused there instead of on this ethno-religious basis.
CUOMO: Till you compare them to non-Muslim terror threats and cases that the government is looking at, which are much larger in number and degree than you have of Muslims.
DRUCKER: Right. I'm just saying, rhetorically, remember --
CUOMO: But I'm saying it's a BS basis, though. That's what I'm saying.
DRUCKER: Yeah, no, and I'm not really arguing that, but I think that the point here is, you never lose points if you're a political candidate by saying we have a problem with radical Islamic terror, but you do lose points if you target Muslims and say that they specifically are the problem without dealing with the larger aspect of the national security part of this.
