July 09, 2019 - 10:59 PM EDT
Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday night said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia, is "living proof" that U.S. immigration laws are "dangerous."
The host cast Omar as someone who has succeeded in the United States, but has then relentlessly criticized it. He then argued that any country which takes in such people is doomed to fail.
"No country can import large numbers of people who hate it and expect to survive. The Romans were the last to try that with predictable results. So be grateful for Ilhan Omar, annoying as she is. She's a living fire alarm, a warning to the rest of us," Carlson said.
The host began his monologue by noting that Omar's father drove a taxi and then got a job with the Postal Service after their family settled in the country. He said the future congresswoman went to a state school, got a job and then eventually was elected to Congress by people proud to elect an immigrant.
"Omar is now at the age of only 36, one of the most powerful women in America. It's an amazing story really. Only in this country could it have happened," he said.
"Ilhan Omar has an awful lot to be grateful for, but she isn't grateful. Not at all," Carlson then said. "After everything America has done for Omar and for her family, she hates this country more than ever."
"Omar isn't disappointed in America. She's enraged by it," he continued. "That should worry you, and not just because Omar is a sitting member of Congress. Ilhan Omar is living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country."
Carlson said Omar, who moved to the U.S. as a child after living in a Kenyan refugee camp, shows that immigration laws are "undermining" America.
"Maybe that is our fault for asking too little of our immigrants. We aren't self-confident enough to make them assimilate, so they never feel fully American. Or maybe the problem is deeper than that. Maybe we are importing people from places whose values are simply antithetical to ours. Who knows what the problem is, but there is a problem, and whatever that cause this cannot continue. It's not sustainable," Carlson said.
The Minnesota progressive has been outspoken on issues of discrimination during her first term in the House.
When asked for comment, Omar's office pointed The Hill to her tweet on Tuesday night, in which she fired back at Carlson.
"Not gonna lie, it's kinda fun watching a racist fool like this weeping about my presence in Congress. No lies will stamp out my love for this country or my resolve to make our union more perfect," Omar tweeted in response to Carlson's Tuesday remarks. "They will just have to get used to calling me Congresswoman!"
Carlson has previously gone after Omar as a "symbol of America's failed immigration system." The Fox News host has been accused of promoting white nationalism in the past for his rhetoric criticizing immigrants.
This story was updated at 10:29 a.m.
BY TAL AXELROD
Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday night said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia, is "living proof" that U.S. immigration laws are "dangerous."
The host cast Omar as someone who has succeeded in the United States, but has then relentlessly criticized it. He then argued that any country which takes in such people is doomed to fail.
"No country can import large numbers of people who hate it and expect to survive. The Romans were the last to try that with predictable results. So be grateful for Ilhan Omar, annoying as she is. She's a living fire alarm, a warning to the rest of us," Carlson said.
The host began his monologue by noting that Omar's father drove a taxi and then got a job with the Postal Service after their family settled in the country. He said the future congresswoman went to a state school, got a job and then eventually was elected to Congress by people proud to elect an immigrant.
"Omar is now at the age of only 36, one of the most powerful women in America. It's an amazing story really. Only in this country could it have happened," he said.
"Ilhan Omar has an awful lot to be grateful for, but she isn't grateful. Not at all," Carlson then said. "After everything America has done for Omar and for her family, she hates this country more than ever."
"Omar isn't disappointed in America. She's enraged by it," he continued. "That should worry you, and not just because Omar is a sitting member of Congress. Ilhan Omar is living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country."
Carlson said Omar, who moved to the U.S. as a child after living in a Kenyan refugee camp, shows that immigration laws are "undermining" America.
"Maybe that is our fault for asking too little of our immigrants. We aren't self-confident enough to make them assimilate, so they never feel fully American. Or maybe the problem is deeper than that. Maybe we are importing people from places whose values are simply antithetical to ours. Who knows what the problem is, but there is a problem, and whatever that cause this cannot continue. It's not sustainable," Carlson said.
The Minnesota progressive has been outspoken on issues of discrimination during her first term in the House.
When asked for comment, Omar's office pointed The Hill to her tweet on Tuesday night, in which she fired back at Carlson.
"Not gonna lie, it's kinda fun watching a racist fool like this weeping about my presence in Congress. No lies will stamp out my love for this country or my resolve to make our union more perfect," Omar tweeted in response to Carlson's Tuesday remarks. "They will just have to get used to calling me Congresswoman!"
Carlson has previously gone after Omar as a "symbol of America's failed immigration system." The Fox News host has been accused of promoting white nationalism in the past for his rhetoric criticizing immigrants.
This story was updated at 10:29 a.m.
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