CHARLES BLOW: They used Nazi, white supremacist propaganda to recruit these people. And then people see that people who don’t recognize it as Nazis or white supremacists, maybe they’re going to join in anyway. But those who do recognize this take it as a cue, the same cue you know as “stand back and stand back.”
And then you put these people on the scene, and these are not people who come to Washington to protest. These people were placed in my neighborhood and did terrible things to my neighbors. When people respond to that, they say, now the problems we created, we’re going to solve with more force. This is a terrible political game.
Brianna Lyman: First of all, how dare you sit here and accuse ICE agents of being Nazis and Gestapo and white supremacists when they—
Blow: Did I say that?
Lyman: You just hinted that they’re obviously recruiting other people. You say they’re recruiting other people and then it’s easy for other people to apply.
Blowing: Of course.
Lyman: Secondly, –
Abby Phillip: Well, he – let me tell you what he was referring to.
BLOW: But don’t you believe you didn’t see that?
PHILIPPE: He’s referring to the Department of Homeland Security’s social media posts.
Lyman: I read all the posts.
Philip: There are also portraits on the Department of Labor and other accounts that can be traced to white supremacist chat rooms. so –
(crosstalk)
Blow: Haven’t you seen the one with George Washington?
Philip: There are many things-
Blow: Have you seen the George Washington one?
Lyman: Which one specifically?
BLOW: They used Nazi wording – wording that was suggestive of Nazis – on the photo of George Washington. Did you see it? Did you see it? You didn’t see that.
Lehmann: So, what was that Nazi quote?
BLOW: You said you saw it, but you didn’t.
(CROSSTALK) PHILIPPE: Everybody stop talking. I don’t want to go down this dead end. I’m just saying in answer to your question, he’s not saying that ICE agents are Nazis or anything. He said some of the images and some of the phrases used by DHS on social media have been linked to very specific places where white supremacist ideology is used.
You can disagree with that, but that’s what he said.
