Carl Higbie Blames Megyn Kelly For Media “Frenzy” Over His Muslim Registry Advocacy

Higbie: "Do You Want To Be Safe Or Not?”

From the November 17 edition of CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront:

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ERIN BURNETT (HOST): One of the things that's an issue here is whether it's slippery slope. You start with a list, and then a list can be used for other things, and to Fox --

CARL HIGBIE: The no-fly list.

BURNETT: Well, to Fox, and the New York Times, you said the Japanese internment camps in the U.S. during World War II could provide precedent for keeping registries.

HIGBIE: Did you actually see the tape?

BURNETT: You said you didn't support internment camps, but that their existence could provide precedent for some sort of a registry of people.

HIGBIE: Actually, I'm curious, did you actually see the tape, though?

BURNETT: Yes, I did.

KEITH BOYKIN: We all saw it.

HIGBIE: OK, so we all --

BURNETT: And I read your quote in the New York Times.

HIGBIE: At no point did I ever even mention it. It was actually Megyn Kelly, which -- I was actually talking about the like -- immigration reform under Carter, when he did the Iran thing and then also under World War II, which Japan, and many other countries too -- I wasn't even talking about camps, Megyn brought it up and I was shocked.

BURNETT: She brought it up, but then you did say, further to the New York Times that it would be a precedent for a registry.

BOYKIN: There was a precedent for it, exactly.

HIGBIE: So, here is the thing, I don't actually advocate for any of this. I didn't bring it up, I was shocked when Megyn brought it up, I clarified to The New York Times today. I said “Look, you know what? This is something that is a huge black mark on our society, and we would never want to do it again, but you have to say that 6 to 3 Supreme Court decision upholding it was never overturned.” Should we overturn it? We should take a look at it.

BOYKIN: Well, I mean that 6 --

BURNETT: But what are you are saying? You don't support it, but we should look at -- I mean, what are you saying there.

BOYKIN: He's backtracking, Erin, and basically, apparently there's a lot of criticism you got from Megyn Kelly's appearance last night, and now you don't want to be seen as that person who is saying those things, but the reality is it's out there, and that decision that you talked about, that Korematsu decision in 1944, even Justice Antonin Scalia said it's one of the worst decisions ever made by the United States Supreme Court, along the lines of the Dred Scott decision about slavery in the 19th century.

HIGBIE: Yes.

BOYKIN: We don't want to go back to that precedent, just because there is an example in history --

HIGBIE: But who's advocating that precedent?

BOYKIN: Just because there's an example in history means that we have to go that direction? This is an example of black people being enslaved. We don't have go back to that either.

[...]

BURNETT: What is he proposing? He keeps bringing up F.D.R., and what he did with Japanese, Germans. What is he saying? Is this not a slippery slope right in that direction?

HIGBIE: Well, every time he -- someone said “internment camps”, he said “absolutely no,” he said “No, no, no.” But he needs to stake a look at it. We banned immigration from certain places, we scrutinized it, we registered people coming in from certain places. It is all in the best interest to protect America, and that's what people like the media that went in frenzy today over that doesn't understand. Do you want to be safe, or not? Like, he's not trying to hurt anybody, he's just trying to keep America safe.

Previously:

On Fox, Trump Supporter Carl Higbie Cites Japanese Internment Camps As “Precedent” For Muslim Registry

Fox's Bolling Suggests Citizenship Applications Have Muslims Promise To Follow Constitution, Instead Of Sharia Law

CNN’s Rebecca Berg: Trump’s Muslim Database Was Tried Before And Was A Total Failure

Fox Hosts Defend Trump Administration's Proposed Muslim Registry: “Whatever They Decide” Will Be Constitutional