Heilemann: Governors Refusing Syrian Refugees 'Shameless, Un-American'

November 16th, 2015 6:05 PM

Would John Heilemann have called Francois Hollande "shameless" and "un-French" if a few months back he had halted the immigration of Syrian immigrants into France, thus stopping two of the Paris terrorists—who reportedly posed as refugees—from entering the country?

The question arises because on today's With All Due Respect, Heilemann condemned as "shameless" and "un-American" the dozen or so governors, mainly Republicans, who have declared that their states won't accept Syrian refugees. 

What would Heilemann say if and when, God forbid, one of the "Syrian refugees" he is so adamant about admitting commits an atrocity on American soil?

JOHN HEILEMANN:  If we were doing our newly-minted segment "With No Due Respect," Mark, I would be calling out the governors of all these states [refusing Syrian refugees.] It's not clear if they have the legal authority to do this at all. This is the worst kind of shameless posturing and grandstanding you can imagine on this issue. I'm with President Obama entirely on the fact it's un-American, but apart from that as I say it's also widely impractical and potentially not legal, but it is something we have seen play out, in a dramatic way, in a slightly different way in  the isse over Gitmo. The president knows how difficult it is when you have recalcitrant states. It could be a problem for him, but again I think the main thing we want to focus on right now is just how shameless these politicians are who are doing this for, I think, purely political reasons.