Ingraham: Obama's remarks about GOP over Syrian refugees 'reprehensible,' he has a sacred obligation to stand up for American people, first and foremost

close

Video

Terror tests, but no 'religious test,' for Syrian refugees

Laura Ingraham goes 'On the Record' to sound off on the debate over admitting Syrian refugees into the US in wake of the Paris terror attacks

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," November 17, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, 'ON THE RECORD' GUEST HOST: The deadly Paris attacks leaving some in America saying that we need to be careful. That prudence is not a lack of compassion. Speaker of the house Paul Ryan, like our last guest, the congressman says that religion, when it comes to the refugees is not the primary issue. Here he is on that today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We can be compassionate and we can also be safe. That's what the bill that we're bringing up tomorrow is all about. It calls for a new standard of verification for refugees from Syria and Iraq. It would mean a pause in the program until we can be certain beyond any doubt that those coming here are not a threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Paul Ryan today.

So radio talk show host and editor-in-chief of "Lifezette" joins me now, Laura Ingraham goes ON THE RECORD.

Hey, Laura. Good to see you tonight.

LAURA INGRAHAM, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, LIFEZETTE.COM: Hey, Martha, good to see you.

MACCALLUM: What's your take on this whole thing?

INGRAHAM: Well, I think what you are seeing in the public is an absolute lack of confidence in the federal government to look out for the interests of the average American. And so what Paul Ryan is using the language of Obama when he said we are not going to have a religious test.

I think that doesn't sit well with people because you are now using the language of the left to advocate for a new Republican way forward. So it's nice that we have a pause. But, I think what most people are looking for and I think all the polling on this shows that this is the case.

We want American leaders, Republicans, Democrats, to look out for America. We have to be first compassionate to the American people. The American workers, the American families and when you have the reports that you just aired on Fox, about individuals trying to make their way up from Honduras to the United States using fraudulent identification, it reminds us of just how dangerous this situation is, Martha.

And I think all the people watching tonight have to remember that the federal government has failed to vet refugees in the past. We had Somali refugees returning to fight with al Shabaab, the Islamist group in Africa.

We've obviously had massive fraud that the "Wall Street Journal" has written about with refugees using false identification to get family members in.

So, I think a pause, absolutely. Nobody is talking about a religious test. We are talking about a test of leadership for the American people to finally see their leaders both Obama and the Republicans standing up, first and foremost, for the American people. That is their sacred obligation.

MACCALLUM: You know, the word compassion I find interesting in this case because you wonder, you know, if we had enough compassion for these people when they were in their villages in Syria.

INGRAHAM: Right.

MACCALLUM: Hundreds of thousands of them, and you know, the red line was crossed and we didn't go in. And people were, you know, John McCain and lindsey Graham were screaming for the rafters that something needed to be done to help these people. And I don't remember the president talking about that we needed to be compassionate towards them at that point.

But now that that whole thing has blown up for these people and they're trying to make their way to other countries, now it's incumbent upon us and especially, Republicans and conservatives.

INGRAHAM: Right.

MACCALLUM: You better be compassionate now, Laura.

INGRAHAM: Well, I've never in my life, and I worked for President Reagan right out of college in his last few years in office, I had never have seen a president of either party go overseas and essentially turn into a political pundit, which is what the president did yesterday.

His behavior was reprehensible yesterday in Europe to call out the duly elected governors of half of the states of the United States and basically call them bigots and stupid and intolerant and frankly anti-American. That's what he did overseas. So, if he thinks he is going to cool this off with that kind of rhetoric, well, he can think again.

I think the American people are just about fed up with this. And I think the reason all these people are flocking to these outsider candidates, not just Trump but Cruz and even Rand Paul and people like Ben Carson is because they believe the old cabal of the establishment has failed the people. So they call for compassion. Give me a break.

When is the last time the White House had compassion, for instance, in the IRS scandal or compassion for what's happened to the American workers who have seen a marketplace flooded with illegal immigrant labor and fraudulent push for stem workers. I don't see a lot of compassion for what's happened to the American worker in the last eight years.

MACCALLUM: Of all the fights there are out there right now, that seems to be the one the president wants the most. We will see how it goes.

Laura, great to see you. Thanks for being here tonight.

INGRAHAM: Thanks, Martha. Take care.