Wednesday at a MSNBC’s town hall, Republican presidential candidate Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) said his rivals are criticizing Muslims because it’s an easy way to get popular and declared, “That’s not what a leader does.”
Kasich said, “If I want to find out about radicalization in the Muslim community, I don’t send you. As smart a guy as you are, you aren’t going to be able to find it out…I have to go talk to somebody in the community. If I want to know about radicalization in a mosque, I got to go talk to somebody who goes to the mosque. If I try to send you there, you would be three blocks away, here comes that guy from television, okay? It wouldn’t work. We have the entire civilized world fighting against a small group of murderers. Our key, the key for America and the president is to unite the civilized world, to get over the egos, turf protection and fight this, and stop it now, both killing ISIS in the Middle East and then the good intelligence that we need and the policing that we need worldwide, so we can be safe. If you’re going to polarize one group, on a basis of a religious test—how are you going to get the information? Am I right or wrong about that folks? I mean, I don’t think there is any other way to do it.”
He added, “Doubling down, the easiest people to attack are the Muslims, right? Attack them. I mean, then I can be popular. That’s not what a leader does. Sometimes a leader has to say hey, folks, let’s calm down, let’s be smart about this. Because it’s our families, neighborhood, and civilization that’s at stake.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.