Newsmax guest calls for high school student who said “Allah” during the Pledge of Allegiance to be criminally investigated
Mark Vargas: “I'm calling on the state attorney general to look into this”
Published
Citation
From the June 11, 2021, edition of Newsmax's American Agenda
ALISON MALONI (HOST): Well, in addition to all the social media comments, the segment grabbed the attention left-leaning organization Media Matters for America. The article posted some nasty comments here to "Newsmax panel melts down over high school students saying 'Allah' during the Pledge of Allegiance," that's what that article said. I don't think there was any sort of meltdown at all, but that's what, you know, clickbait. So we had a guest on yesterday, Mark Vargas, and he said it's "un-American, it's unpatriotic, and it's, quite frankly, upsetting."
Joining us now to discuss is the man accused of melting down. GOP strategist Mark Vargas. Mark, so you woke up to a lot of comments, a lot of tweets, a lot of, you know about you about the segment. Tell us what have you been hearing?
MARK VARGAS (GUEST): Well you know, this is what the left does. They want to belittle and degrade and mock your service to our country all because you're trying to defend our Pledge of Allegiance. But yesterday, I said it was un-American and unpatriotic. It's also illegal and in violation of federal and state laws. And I'm calling on the state attorney general to look into this. You know, the laws are very clear. You can respectfully decline to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but you cannot recite it and alter the words and use -- pull out God and say whatever you'd like. And so, again, I think it's important. It's unpatriotic, it's un-American, and it's also illegal. And I think the state attorney general ought to look into this.
BOB SELLERS (HOST): You know, it's interesting that somebody said if it didn't matter that it said "under God," that person -- that student wouldn't have said what she said. So it kind of, by definition, says that it matters that it says "under God" because that's part of the entire pledge, and she was trying to change the meaning of it by changing those words. Otherwise, you can just throw any word you want in there.
VARGAS: That's right, and I think that's why the state attorney general needs to look into this because they need to be crystal clear that you cannot alter or change the words of the Pledge of Allegiance. And, again, this is not the Democratic Party of John Kennedy. This is not the Democratic Party of Franklin D. Roosevelt. And this is not the Democratic Party of Harry Truman. They loved America. And now you've got the left going completely crazy because you're defending the words of the Pledge of Allegiance.
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VARGAS: I am not calling on this young student to be prosecuted, but I think we need to send a very clear message any way we can. And I think that looking in -- having a state attorney general's office or a district attorney look into this, I think that sends the message.
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SELLERS: And not to insult Islam, by the way. That wasn't the point.