MSNBC host Chris Hayes on Tuesday night quizzed Rep. Steve King (R-IA) about the conservative congressman’s belief that Muslim immigrants from the Middle East are largely unwilling to assimilate into American culture.
Hayes played a clip of King saying earlier on Tuesday that he has not seen an example of Muslim immigrants having “assimilated” into the U.S. The MSNBC host asked King if he could back up his statement.
“Well, Chris that’s a reference to groups of people, not individuals. Of course individuals have assimilated into the broader American society. But yeah, no one has shown me an example of large groups of people that have settled into America from that part of the world that have assimilated into the broader American society,” King responded.
He listed places like Dearborn, Michigan, and Little Mogadishu in Minneapolis and said that those communities appear to be similar to Middle Eastern cities.
Hayes asked if King felt that those communities with concentrated populations of immigrants were different from Chinatown in New York City.
“Of course I do,” King responded. “They bring with them Sharia law, which is completely contradictory to the Constitution itself. It’s incompatible with the Americanism.”
Hayes then asked, “Do you think fundamentally Muslims from the Middle East are incompatible with American democracy?”
“I believe that Sharia law is incompatible with American democracy,” King responded.
When pressed by Hayes about whether he thinks all Muslims are incompatible with American democracy, King then said, “I think that if they are willing to reject Sharia law, then we can talk. But until they do that, their view of Sharia law trumping constitutional law is incompatible with Americanism and eventually will break down the rule of law in our country.”
Watch the interview via MSNBC. Hayes asks about Muslim immigrants at the 3:20 mark.
H/t Mediaite
