Obama's sick burn on Republican critics of his refugee policy

After a meeting with President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines, President Obama briefly addressed a mixed audience of US and Filipino journalists to deliver a sick burn on Republican presidential candidates who've been calling for a halt in entry of Syrian refugees into the United States.

"At first they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates," said Obama, per the pool report. "Now they are scared of 3-year-old orphans. That doesn't seem so tough to me."

Obama also argued that he "cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for ISIL than some of the rhetoric coming out of here in the course of this debate" than the idea of discriminating against Muslim refugees.

"ISIL seeks to exploit the idea that there's war between Islam and the West," Obama said. "And when you start seeing individuals in position of responsibility suggesting Christians are more worthy of protection than Muslims are in a war-torn land that feeds the ISIL narrative, it's counterproductive. And it needs to stop."

Further reading:

• The US is so paranoid about Syrian refugees that it’s letting barely any in
• Turning back Syrian refugees isn't just wrong — it helps ISIS
• Australian news anchor perfectly sums up how Islamophobia plays into ISIS's hands
• Here's a map of every state refusing to accept Syrian refugees

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via