Well, now, isn’t this a lovely thing to see? A Republican House member (and House Majority Whip) refused to answer a simple question he was asked about certain people in his district. He wanted to GTFO away from reporters ASAP. This is both pitiful and cruel, and he needs to be slapped “upside the head”. With thanks to The New Republic via Raw Story:
The New Republic reports House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) refused to give a direct answer when asked if he agreed with President Donald Trump’s characterization of thousands of Somali residents — thousands of whom live in Emmer’s district — as “garbage.” Migrant Insider’s Pablo Manríquez confronted Emmer as he walked down a hall, demanding if he agreed with Trump that “5,000 Somali residents in your district in St. Cloud are garbage?” The New Republic pointed out that the Republican majority whip “offered a weak, political non-answer.”
Dude definitely did not want to answer this. If he answers yes, he’s screwed, and if he answers no, he’s screwed. Yes is going to make his website and phone blow up, not to mention people will be protesting outside the Capitol. Plus, it will make Donald Trump happy. If he says no, Donnie will be VERY unhappy, but his constituents will be happy. It’s the proverbial “between a rock and a hard place”. He should just say “no comment.” That’s not a yes or a no, but it does CYA for him.
“I think what President Trump has done is raise an issue that is something that we’ve been trying to raise for almost three years,” Emmer said. “The press refuses to cover things that are right in front of them—” “Donald Trump said that the Somalis are garbage, that’s what I’m asking you about,” Manríquez repeated. Emmer complained that Manríquez was not letting him finish his statement, to which Manríquez replied: “Well, it’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.” Eventually, Emmer said: “Not all Somalis are bad,” but he followed that up with the claim, “90 percent of the … crimes that have been charged are from the Somali community, and there’s nothing wrong, and nothing racist, about calling out crime.”
Excuse me? 90%? Show us the proof, man, show us the proof. Show us where the Somalis have committed the crimes. Don’t yank us around with some nonsense answer. Prove what you just said. Until then, I call bullsh!t !!!!!!! I hope all of us, all people who are generous enough to read and comment on our columns, are raging too when they read this. Incidentally, my thanks to all of you who read my pieces and comment time and time again. It means a lot. Oops, sidetracked again and getting personal, so… Back to our regularly scheduled column.
Trump has singled out the Somali-American community in Minnesota, saying, “I don’t want them in our country. Their country’s no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country. I could say that about other countries, too.” “They contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88 percent or something. They contribute nothing.
“I don’t want them in our country,” Trump told reporters at a recent cabinet meeting. “Their country is no good for a reason. Your country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country.” “If we keep taking in garbage into our country. [U.S. Rep.] Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage. … These are people that do nothing but complain,” Trump added.
Oh, really??!! Just like Emmer up above, show us the proof, Donnie. Until then, you are just trying to stir things up, and people are going to get hurt or killed. Damn, but I hate our president. And they’re also trying to keep things hush-hush because the man who set the pipe bombs at the DNC and RNC is a Trump-loving Republican. They don’t want people to ask about it, so they don’t have to admit it. But it’s already out there – Trump’s garbage, and what will someone from MAGA do? It’s going to be bloody for no reason at all. That’s disturbing and very, very sad.
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Sadly, Emmer is my Rep. I write him frequently and receive non-answers.
I find the Somali community to be friendly and kind, just my 2 cents.