MSNBC Host Claims Military Veterans Are a Bigger Threat to America Than Illegal Immigrants
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell has sparked widespread criticism after he suggested that U.S. military veterans are a greater source of terrorism within the United States than illegal immigrants. In a segment aired on Thursday, O’Donnell’s comments were met with immediate backlash.
“The simple fact is, this country has suffered more deadly terrorism at the hands of American-born citizens who are veterans of the United States military than people who have crossed into this country at the southern border,” O’Donnell said, per Fox News. “It is very clear from the evidence that if you want to worry about terrorism in this country, the United States Army is a much bigger problem than the southern border.”
O’Donnell’s comments came in the wake of a terror attack in New Orleans that left at least 15 dead and dozens injured. The suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, allegedly rammed a truck into crowds in the city’s French Quarter on New Year’s Day, armed with a Glock and a .308 rifle. The FBI later confirmed the attack was being investigated as a terror event after an ISIS flag was discovered on the truck. Jabbar was shot and killed after opening fire on police.
In the MSNBC segment, O’Donnell used historical examples, including Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, to argue that American veterans have been responsible for more terrorist acts than immigrants.
“Timothy McVeigh parked a truck outside that building loaded with explosives in an act of homegrown American terrorism,” O’Donnell said, referencing the 1995 bombing. “Timothy McVeigh’s hatred of the American government was not tamed in any way by his service in the American military. So, too, with America’s latest terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve.”
O’Donnell further criticized President-elect Donald Trump for his reaction to the attack.
“When Donald Trump sees the type of terrorist attack that occurred in New Orleans, he doesn’t remember Timothy McVeigh and, instead, he blames the criminals that he imagines are crossing the southern border,” he said.
He continued by asserting, “No one who has ever crossed the southern border, in the history of the existence of the southern border, has killed more people in this country than Timothy McVeigh, who was born in Lockport, New York, the northwest part of the state, into a White Roman Catholic American family with roots in this country that go back farther than Donald Trump’s roots in this country.”
The comments sparked an immediate backlash on social media, with critics questioning O’Donnell’s conclusions and the implications of his remarks. Conservative commentators, as well as viewers, took to platforms like X to denounce the host’s stance, accusing him of downplaying the threat posed by illegal immigration.
The terrorist attack in New Orleans has also been a point of controversy. Initially, the FBI stated that the attack was not related to terrorism, but this changed after evidence, including the discovery of the ISIS flag, led officials to reclassify the event as an act of terror.
O’Donnell’s comparison of U.S. military veterans to illegal immigrants as a terrorism threat has stirred debate on the broader national conversation surrounding security and immigration. Critics argue that O’Donnell’s comments distract from the realities of terrorist threats that come from across the globe, while some see them as an attempt to shift focus away from the increasing concerns over border security.
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