Watch: MSNBC’s Mohyeldin Likens U.S. to Qatar on Human Rights

MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin said Saturday on his show “Ayman” compared Qatar to the United States on human rights abuses while addressing the controversy surrounding the World Cup.

Mohyeldin said, “From the moment Qatar won the chance to host the 2022 World Cup, there have been concerns about its capacity and deservingness to host the event, rightfully so. Any country that is going to welcome people from around the world should be subject to intense scrutiny. But what has played out over the past several years and intensified in the final few months before the World Cup kicks off reveals the depths of western prejudice, performative moral outrage, and, perhaps most significantly, gross double standards.”

He continued, “While it is fair to criticize Qatar, I wonder if this debate is truly about human rights or is it that European countries, who view themselves as the guardians of global soccer for their own selfish economic purposes, can’t stomach the idea that an Arab Middle Eastern country will host this venerable global gathering? I wonder if any of these American pundits grandstanding about human rights will call for the U.S. to be stripped of hosting the 2026 World Cup for the way elected leaders in this country and our judicial system in this country have rolled back reproductive rights, moved to ban the word ‘gay’ in public schools along or even ban books.”

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