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Wisconsin Rep. Claims White Terrorist Attacks are “Different”

HeadlineFeb 09, 2017

Trump is facing increasing criticism for not including cases of massacres carried out by white supremacists in the White House’s recently issued list of 78 terrorist attacks. Among the attacks not included was the recent massacre in Quebec City, Canada, where a Trump-supporting white nationalist killed six worshipers at a mosque on January 29. Also not included was the Charleston, South Carolina, massacre, where nine black worshipers were killed by white supremacist Dylann Roof in 2015. On Tuesday, Wisconsin Republican Congressmember Sean Duffy tried to defend the exclusion of these massacres from the list during an interview with ?CNN’s Alisyn Camerota.

Alisyn Camerota: “Congressman, why isn’t the president talking about the white terrorist who mowed down six Muslims who were praying at their mosque?”

Rep. Sean Duffy: “Yeah, I don’t know. But I would just tell you, there is a difference. Again, death and murder on both sides is wrong. But if you want to take the dozens of scenarios where ISIS-inspired attacks have taken innocents, and you give me one example of what’s happened—I think that was in Canada—of America—”

Alisyn Camerota: “How about the Charleston—how about the Charleston church shooting, Congressman?”

Rep. Sean Duffy: “But so—but—but here—but here’s what you’re doing. So, yeah—”

Alisyn Camerota: “He was an extremist. He was a white extremist.”

Rep. Sean Duffy: “Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he was, OK.”

Alisyn Camerota: “How about that? That doesn’t matter?”

Rep. Sean Duffy: “No, it does matter. It does matter. Look at the good things that came from it. Nikki Haley took down the Confederate flag. That was great!”

Congressmember Duffy did not acknowledge during this interview that in his home state of Wisconsin a white supremacist killed six people in 2012 during a massacre at a Sikh temple. Meanwhile, the White House is also considering officially designating more groups as foreign terrorist organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood—one of the Middle East’s oldest and most influential Islamic groups.

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