Appearing as a panel member on Wednesday's New Day, CNN political analyst and former NBC host David Gregory accused many Republicans of engaging in "demagoguery" and "shameless fearmongering" for their history of insisting on greater border security to prevent terrorism and crime.
CNN co-host Alisyn Camerota set up that portion of the discussion by introducing a clip of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Fox News Channel complaining that too many immigrants are allowed into the U.S. who are not sufficiently literate.
About 6:10 a.m. ET on the January 17 show, after Camerota complained that he was "painting with a broad brush," left-leaning CNN commentator John Avlon further bemoaned that President Donald Trump had allowed the "not better angels" part of his White House to push him to reject a deal on immigration. Avlon:
This President has an opportunity to do a "Nixon in China" on immigration and do an Art of the Deal, which is what he was articulating last week in the cabinet meeting, or he can listen to, you know, the "not the better angels" of the administration's nature and blow it all up in favor of arguments that sound like policy but too often mask a degree of racism and racial resentment.
Gregory then jumped in:
And demagoguery. I mean, let's just remember, in the history of immigration discussions, people like then-Senator Jeff Sessions exploiting this issue to blame people -- to blame immigrants for crime and for terrorism.
He then added:
How many Republicans did you hear after 9/11 who opposed comprehensive immigration reform said that terrorists would be coming through our Southern border to attack the United States? Hasn't happened because it was just a shameful fearmongering exercise on the part of opponents of comprehensive immigration reform.
The CNN analyst seemed to forget that the 9/11 hijackers were all immigrants, and that it was not at all unreasonable to have concerns that terrorists would exploit lax border security to make additional attacks.
