MSNBC has severed its ties to a guest who said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “might be trying to scrub some of the brown off his skin” with the his comments on so-called Muslim “no-go zones.”
Human rights lawyer Arsalan Iftikhar, who is Muslim, made the remark Monday on “Now with Alex Wagner” after Jindal perpetuated the myth of so-called “no-go zones” in Europe during a speech he gave in London. “No-go zones” are areas allegedly controlled by Muslims where non-Muslims do not enter.
“I think Gov. Jindal is protesting a bit too much,” Iftikhar said. “He might be trying to scrub some of the brown off his skin as he runs to the right in a Republican presidential exploratory bid.”
Jindal is Indian-American and is Catholic.
MSNBC spokeswoman Rachel Racusen told TPM on Tuesday that the network “found this guest’s comments offensive and unacceptable and we don’t plan on inviting him back.”
CNN Money first reported that MSNBC didn’t plan on inviting Iftikhar back on the air. Iftikhar told CNN Money that he would apologize to Jindal once the governor “apologizes to seven million American Muslims for advancing the debunked ‘Muslim no-go zones’ myth.”
Fox News was forced to issue an on-air retraction Saturday after one if its guests, terrorism expert Steven Emerson, called the entire city of Birmingham, England a “no-go zone.”
Iftikhar enjoyed some celebrity recently after CNN anchor Don Lemon asked him whether he supported the Islamic State. After that CNN appearance, Iftikhar wrote an ironic open letter thanking Lemon “for making me famous with his patently offensive racist dumb-ass question.”
