HIAS’ Mark Hetfield: We Have Leaders Who ‘Stoke’ Fears and Who ‘Mischaracterize and Vilify Refugees’

‘Fear deteriorates into hate speech; and then hate speech deteriorates into hateful acts’

RUSH EXCERPT:

LEMON: “Mark, HIAS became the focus really of Robert bower’s rage because you help immigrants from all over the world. He wrote on social media that HIAS likes to bring invaders in and kill our people. Where do you think that kind of hate comes from?”
HETFIELD: “Well, you know, I think it comes from fear originally. And the problem is that if you don’t deal with fear, fear deteriorates into hate speech. And then hate speech deteriorates into hateful acts. What we have now in this country, instead of having leaders that address fears and tell us that we have nothing to fear but fear itself, to tell thaws our fears are not rational, instead they stoke them. And they lie and they mischaracterize and vilify refugees, people who are fleeing terror and say they’re bringing terror but they’re not.”

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