In a pre-recorded interview with Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence which aired on Sunday's Meet the Press on NBC, host Chuck Todd oddly wondered why Donald Trump's plan to restrict immigration from selected countries "compromised by terrorism" should be considered "constitutional," even though the new plan tries to alleviate previous complaints by not making religion the determining factor in restrictions.
The NBC host also utilized the language of the left as he referred to illegal immigrants who were brought into the country as children by their parents as "dreamers."
After pressing several times for clarification of how Trump plans to handle the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. who have not committed serious crimes, the NBC host then wondered:
What do you do with so-called "dreamers"? Folks -- kids that were brought here, when they came over here, their parents brought them illegally. They were kids. They're here now. They've gone to public school. What do you do with them? He said he's going to rescind the executive order the President signed, so what do you then do with them? Do they live in the shadows?
After devoting the next couple of questions to the issue of how Trump might be able to get Mexico to pay for a border wall, Todd pivoted to the issue of restricting the immigration of Muslims into the U.S. by targeting countries where terrorists might likely travel from. The NBC host brought up opposition to the plan from Mormons as he posed:
Let me ask you about being in Utah, by the way. First of all, you had a campaign in Utah, and there are a lot of Mormons in particular who don't like the Muslim ban, don't like even the revised version of it which is not supposedly targeting religions but targeting regions. And they come home from missions and talk about trying to help these Syrian refugees. I'm sure you heard some complaints personally about this. What did you tell concerned Utah residents about the Muslim ban?
After Pence brought up the issue of wanting a Supreme Court that follows the U.S. Constitution, Todd followed up on immigration and strangely seemed to wonder about the possibility that it could be unconstitutional to limit immigration from certain countries:
Let me just go back to this Muslim ban. When he first came out with it, you came out of it -- you basically said it was unconstitutional. You have defended the new version of this. Why do you think the new version of his plan -- which would target countries or regions rather than religion -- why do you think that's constitutional?
After the vice presidential nominee argued that a Trump administration would limit immigration from areas "compromised by terrorism," Todd continued to press:
You can make a case that over 100 countries have been compromised. I mean, like, how do you identify what is a -- give me the definition of a country compromised by terrorism. Is that France? Germany? United States?
After Pence complained that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton wishes to increase the number of Syrian refugees accepted by the U.S., Todd tried to give her cover by recalling that the increase was requested by the United Nations. Todd:
The United Nations is asking the United States to increase its Syrian, by the way, for what it's worth, it goes from -- right now, we've accepted 10,000, and they want us to accept 65,000.
After Pence repeated that it would be a "550 percent increase," Todd again leaned on the UN for a rationalization: "From 10 to 65. That's what the UN requested.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, September 4, Meet the Press on NBC:
CHUCK TODD: What do you do with so-called "dreamers"? Folks -- kids that were brought here, when they came over here, their parents brought them illegally. They were kids. They're here now. They've gone to public school. What do you do with them? He said he's going to rescind the executive order the President signed, so what do you then do with them? Do they live in the shadows?
[MIKE PENCE]
How are you going to force an ally to pay for the wall? I mean, I understand the remittance idea that you redo the Patriot Act. Is that, I mean, it feels like a shakedown.
[PENCE]
What is their incentive to pay for this wall? I mean, other than we're going to withhold money? That's the incentive?
[PENCE]
Let me ask you about being in Utah, by the way. First of all, you had a campaign in Utah, and there are a lot of Mormons in particular who don't like the Muslim ban, don't like even the revised version of it which is not supposedly targeting religions but targeting regions. And they come home from missions and talk about trying to help these Syrian refugees. I'm sure you heard some complaints personally about this. What did you tell concerned Utah residents about the Muslim ban?
[PENCE]
Let me just go back to this Muslim ban. When he first came out with it, you came out of it -- you basically said it was unconstitutional. You have defended the new version of this. Why do you think the new version of his plan -- which would target countries or regions rather than religion -- why do you think that's constitutional?
PENCE: Well, first off, the foreign policy of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has resulted in the wider Middle East spinning out of control. I mean, we've seen Syria imploding into civil war. Libya imploding into civil war. We have entire countries in that region of the world and territories that have been compromised by terrorism. And I think what Donald Trump has said is that we have to immediately suspend immigration from any countries that have been compromised by terrorism.
TODD: You can make a case that over 100 countries have been compromised. I mean, like, how do you identify what is a -- give me the definition of a country compromised by terrorism. Is that France? Germany? United States?
PENCE: Chuck, let's start with Syria. Hillary Clinton wants to increase Syrian refugees to this country by 550 percent.
TODD: The United Nations is asking the United States to increase its Syrian, by the way, for what it's worth, it goes from -- right now, we've accepted 10,000, and they want us to accept 65,000.
PENCE: Sure, well, Hillary Clinton wants to increase Syrian refugees to this country by 550 percent.
TODD: From 10 (thousand) to 65 (thousand). That's what the UN requested.
PENCE: Donald Trump and I believe that we should suspend the Syrian refugee program and create -- working with Arab countries to create safe zones for people to be able to escape those war-torn areas. But to continue to allow people into this country when our own Homeland Security -- our own FBI says we can't know for certain who these people are is putting the safety and security of the American people second to the agenda of the UN or to liberals in this country. And Donald Trump is just simply not going to do that.
