Nearing the end of her MSNBC program Andrea Mitchell Reports on Thursday, NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell claimed that "there is a lot of discrimination" against Muslims as she was introducing President Barack Obama's 1:00 p.m. speech.
After suggesting that some of the "rhetoric" at Tuesday's GOP presidential debate was "really a recruitment tool for ISIS," she recounted that Bernie Sanders visited a mosque yesterday and then asserted that "there is a lot of discrimination here," adding that it is "fueling the ISIS rhetoric."
After the President's speech ended, as she appeared during MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts, Mitchell suggested that President Obama should respond to "the really troubling things that have been said about Muslims by some of the political candidates."
At 12:58 p.m. ET, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius recalled "very angry rhetoric, anti-Muslim rhetoric" at the GOP debate:
What's interesting to me politically, Andrea, is Republican candidates, most of all Trump, is speaking to a frightened country with very, very angry rhetoric, anti-Muslim rhetoric, keep the Muslims out. And the President is trying to resist that but also reassure the country. That's a very tricky balance.
Mitchell began her response:
And one of the things Hillary Clinton did is speak to that as their rhetoric, you know, turning the sand, the desert sand and the glow and all of this stuff that Ted Cruz and Trump and some of the others, saying, Jean and David, that this is really a recruitment tool for ISIS.
She then alleged "a lot of discrimination" as she added:
Bernie Sanders went to a mosque yesterday and has been passionate on the subject of reaching out to Muslim-Americans. There is a lot of discrimination here, and it's very hurtful to the majority of, well, it's hurtful to American Muslim communities. It's discriminatory, and it's also fueling the ISIS rhetoric.
At 1:14 p.m. ET, host Thomas Roberts fretted that the President's attempts to "alleviate fears" has "certainly not been helped by the debate from the GOP." Roberts:
And, Richard (Engel), that's a speech that came on December 6, a Sunday night address to the American people as most people were home getting ready to watch TV. around 8:00, and we have the President come from the Oval Office where he did talk about their four-point strategy. Andrea, that didn't really do a lot to alleviate fears of the American people about any anxiety that has certainly not been helped by the debate from the GOP that we witnessed on Tuesday night.
Mitchell alluded to "really troubling things" having been said by GOP presidential candidates as she responded:
Correct. And, as I was just saying moments ago that the President wasn't going to be taking questions before taking vacation. I think there is a good chance that he still would be, so let me correct that because it was very clear today he didn't take questions, and he hasn't addressed a lot of questions that have been risen, that have been raised by the Republicans. And maybe it would be good for him to address Americans about all of the really troubling things that have been said about Muslims by some of the political candidates this year.
