Tony Perkins on Evangelical Voters

I guess I'm trying to ask you and sort of put you on the spot because you are a faith leader, what do you advise the administration if indeed we're going to see some post-mid term rapprochement, reconciliation after this spate of hate crimes.

Well look, if we're talking about immigration I think the president's doing the right thing by securing our borders, whether it is 7,000 or 70,000, I think it's important that we we are a nation ruled by law.

People can come here, they come here legally.

America is very generous.

I just got back from Middle East, I was in the UAE, and they're a nation of about 10 million, only two million are citizens.

You can't become a citizen of that country.

We have very generous laws here, you just have to do it by the rules, by law, and I think this president is enforcing the law as the American people elected him to do.

Yeah, I mean again, everybody believes in security there's not one single political party or individual who doesn't believe in security.

Well, this president, that's what he's doing.

Right, but it assumes that there is a problem of a massive influx of people, which none of the facts support; that's the issue.

You don't know who is in this caravan.

I mean, there are people that infiltrate, that can come in, that do not want to become a part of the American family.

I'm actually thankful that people want to come to this country, they want to come here.

That's what America, it's about is about bringing people here, they just have to do it legally, so that we can make sure that they're here for the right reasons.

Yeah, I mean no nobody nobody wants the law to be broken, but again, it's about language isn't it Mr. Perkins?

You've got this caravan in which the president and others talk about felons infiltrating, exotics - codeword for Middle Easterners - that these are invaders.

I'm asking you whether these are the right words to use in a political context where we're already very divided.

And you yourself have coursed for some kind of reconciliation amongst Americans, haven't you.

I think what we're conflating some issues here.

The president was speaking with the facts based upon even what the Honduran president said was that their intelligence uncovered within this caravan.

The president was making, issued that.

I do think that our our conversation here in the United States as Americans, whether we're Republican, whether we're Democrat, whether we're independent, whether we're liberal or conservative, I do think that the rhetoric has reached a point that, you know, we're no longer having conversations we're talking over, not even talking over, we're shouting over each other and I do think that we have to find a way back to where we can disagree, we can disagree, but do so in a in a civil manner that respects one another as human beings.

I think those are very very welcome words.