Ben Carson's new low: GOP hopeful compares refugees to "rabid dogs"

"If there's a rabid dog running around in your neighborhood, you're probably not going to assume something good"

By Sophia Tesfaye

Senior Politics Editor

Published November 19, 2015 6:34PM (EST)

  (AP/Lenny Ignelzi)
(AP/Lenny Ignelzi)

Ben Carson has falsely claimed that the U.S. lacks a vetting system for Syrian refugees, rushing to join the growing xenophobic hysteria in the wake of last week's terror attacks in Paris. His campaign supported the more than 30 governors who rushed to close their doors to Syrian refugees this week, tweeting this hilariously deformed map of the United States. The retired doctor has also called on Congress to cut off funding to aid Syrians displaced by war and ISIL terror, but his latest response to the debate on the status of refugees seems to have reached a new low.

At a campaign stop in Alabama on Thursday, Carson again repeated the misinformation that the U.S. lacks any vetting system, calling it "foolish" to allow Syrians into the U.S. at this time.

If there's a rabid dog running around in your neighborhood, you're probably not going to assume something good about that dog. And you're probably going to put your children out of the way. That doesn't mean that you hate all dogs.

But you're going to put your intellect into motion and you're thinking "How do I protect my children at the same time? I'm going to call the humane society and hopefully they can come and take this dog away and create a safe environment once again."

[...]

We have to have in place screening mechanisms that allow us to determine who the mad dogs are. Quite frankly, who are the people who want to come in and hurt us and destroy us.

Watch the GOP's ludicrous responses to the Syrian refugee crisis:

[jwplayer file="http://media.salon.com/2015/11/GOP_Refugees.Asha_.11.23.2105.mp4" image="http://media.salon.com/2015/09/syrian_refugees.jpg"][/jwplayer]

Ben Carson Compares Refugees To Rabid Dogs


By Sophia Tesfaye

Sophia Tesfaye is Salon's senior editor for news and politics, and resides in Washington, D.C. You can find her on Twitter at @SophiaTesfaye.

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