CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Tuesday didn’t flinch as network political commentator Angela Rye spewed that the “concentration camps” on the southern border will soon lead to “death camps” if America doesn’t change course. Rye appeared with conservative Steve Cortez to discuss far-left Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s use of the term “concentration camps,” a move that created a furor.
Before making her own Nazi comparison, Rye assailed, “Before we are American, we are human beings. And it is not okay. It is a damn shame what is happening at this border.” She then connected detention centers in 2019 to the Holocaust and murder of six million Jews: “In 1933, there were concentration camps. In 1941, they were death camps, and that is where we are going, if our — our consciences are not quickly pierced.”
Again, no objection or push back from host Cuomo at this outrageous assertion that America is becoming like Nazi Germany.
Earlier in the day, Ocasio-Cortez released a video in which she insisted: “The United States is running concentration camps on our southern border. And that is exactly what they are. They are concentration camps.”
Rather than condemn this remark, Cuomo opened the segment by trying to split hairs and justify the comment:
So, here's the issue. Is she right in defining concentration camps? Yes. But do they have a feeling of usage stained with what happened with the Nazis and the genocide of the Jews? Yes. And that's why it is a Great Debate, Angela Rye and Steve Cortes. Steve Cortes, with the new definition from her, I say concentration camps because that's how they are defined internationally. That's what these are. I am not equating with stigma of the Nazis and the Jews. Leave that part aside. Satisfied?
Of course, Auchwitz was a concentration camp in Poland and it’s estimated that over one million were killed there. But journalists like Cuomo want to explain away this comment. CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski offered this desperate take on Twitter:
Talking to Cortes on Tuesday, Cuomo offered this “push back” to attacks on Ocasio-Cortez:
CHRIS CUOMO: One point of pushback before I get to you, Angela. You did not have similar problems with the phrase "America First," which is equally stained, or the word "Nationalist" —
STEVE CORTES: No.
CUOMO: — which is equally stained. No. Yes, as a matter of fact.
CORTES: No, it isn't.
A partial transcript is below.
Cuomo Primetime
6/18/19
9:34 PM ETREP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The United States is running concentration camps on our Southern Border. And that is exactly what they are. They are concentration camps.
...
CHRIS CUOMO: All right, so here's the issue. Is she right in defining concentration camps? Yes. But do they have a feeling of usage stained with what happened with the Nazis and the genocide of the Jews? Yes. And that's why it is a Great Debate, Angela Rye and Steve Cortes. Steve Cortes, with the new definition from her, I say concentration camps because that's how they are defined internationally. That's what these are. I am not equating with stigma of the Nazis and the Jews. Leave that part aside. Satisfied?
STEVE CORTES: No. Chris, that - that's a ridiculous excuse for a couple of reasons. First of all, we all know what the connotation of Concentration camps is. If we went out on the street and asked a 100 random people, 99 of them would tell us - would give us an explanation or a definition that relates to Nazism.
But secondly, and even more importantly, she used the phrase "Never again," which we know is specifically linked to the Holocaust, to the Shoah. And by doing that, she very much demeaned the victims of the Shoah, the victims of that horrific tragedy. She also demeaned, by the way, the American soldiers that smashed the evil perpetrators of that human tragedy. And I would also add this. She also demeans the current American citizens, many of whom are Hispanic, who do the very hard and dangerous work of guarding our Borders. She equated them by association to Nazi SS guards. And that is disgraceful. AOC should apologize, at the least, and probably resign.
CUOMO: One point of pushback before I get to you, Angela. You did not have similar problems with the phrase "America First," which is equally stained, or the word "Nationalist"--
CORTES: No.
CUOMO: — which is equally stained. No. Yes, as a matter of fact.
CORTES: No, it isn't.
CUOMO: But why doesn't it bother you the same way?
CORTES: You and I have had this discussion many times about nationalism. I totally disagree that it's a stained word. As a matter of fact, I think it's a proud word.
CUOMO: You may. But you are wrong.
CORTES: American - well no, I'm not wrong. You - you don't get to define what nationalism means for me.
CUOMO: Yes, I do.
...
ANGELA RYE: What I think is most important, Chris, is we do so often in these great debates is I think it's critical that we define it. I am a kid who as a - as a point of privilege, I had a set of encyclopedias. They were orange, encyclopedias that I loved to read.
And so, I pulled the encyclopedia definition for concentration camps , and I would like to share them with your viewer. "Internment Center for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups who are confined for reasons of state security, exploitation, or punishment, usually by executive decree or military order."
And to that - to that end, they are concentration camps at the Border. To that end, whether we call them concentration camps or we call them detention, they are problematic. To that end, when you talk about a frog being put in a boiling pot of hot water, the frog will immediately jump out. But if the frog is put in a - in a - in a pot of cold water, and you slowly turn up the heat, I'm going somewhere, it will — it will die. It will die.
And what I'm saying to you is, today, we sat through this President calling Mexicans drug dealers and rapists, at the beginning of this campaign. Today, we sat through him talking about "Build that wall," and heard all those chants, and we went from rage - outrage to disgust, to dismay, to it's a shame.
And I am telling you that we are irresponsible at this point that whether we call them concentration camps or not, her point remains. And the Right is threatened by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because she tells the truth, whether they can digest it or not. And our bottom line here is there is an inhumane crisis happening at the Southern Border. And it is because of how these people look. It is because of differences because there is a fear that White people are losing their power in this country. That is the bottom line. It is white fear. That is what is driving this. It is racism at its core.
...
RYE: Before we are American, we are human beings. And it is not okay. It is a damn shame what is happening at this border. And the fact that you're going to justify it — justify it by economics, let me just tell you, there are a whole lot of people making a whole lot of money by having these people in detention centers.
We want to shift the attention, as - as we should, off of mass incarceration of Black and Brown people in this country, but now those monies are being transferred into detaining migrants at the Border. It is a crisis, Steve. It is not OK just because they don't have their papers. I hope —
CORTES: Listen, I — I — absolutely.
RYE: --that at some point, you wrestle with your conscience, and get to the right side of this because--
CORTES: I - I absolutely concur —
RYE: — Sir, you're in the wrong side of history.
CORTES: — I concur that it's a crisis.
RYE: In 1933, there were concentration camps . In 1941, they were death camps, and that is where we are going, if our - our consciences are not quickly pierced.
CORTES: Let me —
RYE: It is a problem.
CORTES: Let me tell you who agrees with me.
RYE: Do not laugh it off.
CORTES: Let me tell you who —
RYE: Do not laugh it off.
CORTES: Let me tell you who agrees with me about asylum. Barack Obama. This is what he said in 2014, and I'm quoting.
RYE: Oh, my God.
CORTES: Quote, "Refugee status is not granted" —
RYE: You guys are like the kings of red herrings.
CORTES: — "Refugee status is not granted just on economic need or because a family lives in a bad neighborhood or poverty."
CUOMO: Look, there - there - there's no question about that.
CORTES: And that is true.
RYE: What is your point?
CORTES: Asylum status —
CUOMO: There is no question about that. The Obama administration--
CORTES: Asylum status is for people who are fleeing for their lives because they are persecuted.
CUOMO: — wrestled with the same problem, we've been —
RYE: What is your point?
CUOMO: Hold on a second. We've been wrestling with this problem for 30 years. It's like a new parlor game. Anybody you want to go to, in any era, we've been fighting about these same issues.
But you've always wound up coming to a same crisis point, which is OK, we got to reform the rules. Congress never gets to that. There's a million reasons why. Most of them are bad. But the urgency becomes —
RYE: All of them are bad.
CUOMO: — on how you treat the humanity. In 2014, we went nuts about what was going on with the unaccompanied minors —
RYE: Yes.
CUOMO: — during the Obama administration because it was wrong. They didn't have the resources set up. They didn't have the right procedures. And these kids weren't being treated the right way. And we said "Never again." And now we're right back here.
And the one thing that I think should unite you guys is you all say this is wrong, what's happening at the Border, and not a damn thing has been done by either side to fix it.
The Left says, "We don't trust him to spend the money the right way, and they won't give us the right protections to take care of the kids the right way."
RYE: It's true. They built more detention centers.
CUOMO: And the Right says, "The Democrats don't want to do anything." And the President says, "Even though I have an emergency declaration, and I can now loosen some purse strings, I only want to use it for the fence. And don't forget, my whole sell is of being harsh on these people. I'm not going to open my heart to them all the sudden."
And doesn't that just really sicken you, Steve that something that you admit as wrong, and that you identify with on one level as an ethnic, is being ignored by your own party as part of this problem?
CORTES: No. Listen, I - I don't think we're ignoring it at all. I love legal immigration.
CUOMO: What has been done?
CORTES: And I want to —
CUOMO: What has been done to help the kids?
CORTES: And I wanted to help preserve —
CUOMO: McAleenan keeps asking for money. And you guys have not put anything forward. McConnell won't even put it on the floor.
CORTES: Look, I'm not answering for McConnell. I don't know why they haven't done the legislation there.
CUOMO: The hell you're not.
CORTES: I agree with you.
CUOMO: He's in your party. And you're here to defend the administration.
CORTES: I agree. I'm not — I'm not —
CUOMO: He's part of it.
CORTES: That means I answer for him? I don't answer for him.
And the - and the Senate should absolutely pass something because they can, because they have the votes, and I agree. And, by the way, Paul Ryan, when he was Speaker, should have done something.
And I - I will say to the GOP's great discredit, when they controlled both Houses, they did not address immigration, and they should have. And I believe it's one of the reasons we lost in 2018.
CUOMO: And when you guys had both Houses —
CORTES: It's not because of the Democrats.
CUOMO: — you didn't do a damn thing about either, except put all your money behind a fence that doesn't--
CORTES: That's — I just said much to —
CUOMO: — help with the current problem.
CORTES: — I just said much - much to their discredit. But here's the thing. What AOC - let's get back to AOC where we started. The fact that she's trying to equate us with Nazis —
RYE: Oh, now you want to get back to the topic!
CORTES: — because we believe in Border control, if her logic holds, then Barack Obama, who deported more people than all other U.S. presidents combined —
CUOMO: Remember that.
CORTES: — by her logic, then Barack Obama is a Nazi.
CUOMO: Remember that.
CORTES: However, we don't seem to hear that.
CUOMO: Next time the President says that he's gotten rid of more people than anybody--
RYE: Are you kidding me? I can't believe that's —
CUOMO: — remember that the opposite is true.
RYE: — where you end up.
