Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is defending comments he made about keeping radical Islamists out of the United States, telling a Fox News audience that Muslim groups may denounce his views as "fear mongering," but that he's just trying to keep America safe.
On "The Kelly File" with Fox News host Megyn Kelly, Jindal doubled down on remarks he made Monday – those who abuse America's freedoms or seek to undercut our Constitution should be barred from entry into the United States.
His specific comments: "We do insist that folks should not come into our country and use the freedoms we give them to undermine the freedom we grant to everyone. ... In other words, we shouldn't tolerate those who want to come and try to impose some variant or some version of Shariah law."
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The Muslim Public Affairs Council accused him of "fear mongering." The Council on American-Islamic Relations slammed him for "anti-Muslim diatribes" and said he was only making a "desperate attempt to pander to society's margins" to bolster his chances at the presidency, Fox News reported.
But Wedneday evening on Fox News, Jindal held fast to his view.
"Look, America's built on religious liberty ... and certainly, many Muslims are proud, patriotic Americans and that's great," Jindal said. "But Megyn, it's also true there are radical Muslims, there are Muslims that want to treat women as second-class citizens, there are those who want to use our freedoms to undermine the freedoms of others. It makes no sense to let those types of folks come into our country. It's just common sense."
Jindal also pointed out that he made the remarks in answer to a question about whether he believed those affiliate with ISIS, and those known to have fought for ISIS, should be allowed back into America – a scenario that Kelly confirmed has been occurring. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have introduced a bill to keep ISIS-tied radicals from entering the United States, in fact, she said.
As Jindal said: "Why would I want to allow people who want to kill Americans to come to America?"
Kelly said "ISIS is different," but suggested that keeping out those with radical views ran counter to the Constitution and its First Amendment freedoms.
Jindal's response: "Here's the line. In America, we say you have the right to believe what you want as long as you're not harming others. ... You don't have the right to come here and say, for example, you think women should be treated as second-class citizens. You don't have the right to say others don't have the same freedoms we give to you."
Jindal also reminded of America's history of keeping out Communists during the Cold War and others with intent to undermine U.S. foreign policy.
"Look to Europe," he warned, where "immigrants don't assimilate. We want people to come here ... [who] believe in American exceptionalism" and "learn English. ... We don't want people who are going to come here that are dedicated [to] radical Islamist terrorism."
The big threat, he said, is America could "go the way of Europe, and I think that's a dangerous thing."