The Mayor of Dallas had an excellent comeback to fears about Syrian refugees

Last weekend, Mike Rawlings, the mayor of Dallas, offered some Real Talk when discussing the Syrian refugee crisis with a cable news anchor.

Rawlings was asked if Americans should be skeptical of the refugees, 2,000 of which have been admitted since 2010. The Texan mayor replied that he is “‘more fearful’ of armed white men than people fleeing civil war in the Middle East.”

“I am more fearful of large gatherings of white men that come into schools, theaters and shoot people up, but we don’t isolate young white men on this issue,” the mayor continued.

Watch the full clip, via ThinkProgress, below:

When asked by MSNBC whether the Syrian refugees could be hidden ISIS agents, Rawlings flatly rejected the idea, citing violence by white supremacy groups as well as mass shootings committed by white men as real, rather than hypothetical, dangers.

Rawlings went on to say that ISIS was as representative of Islam as a faith as the “Nazi senior staff” was to Christianity. He cited Scripture as well before asking how “Christ following people like myself — how do we deal with this issue of strangers, and are we going to let them in?”

Over the weekend, armed protestors, mostly white men, staged a rally outside an Islamic center in Irving, Texas, just outside Dallas.

The response to Rawlings comments has been humorously stretched at some right-wing outlets. Meanwhile, he’s received plaudits for his answer by local and national media, and even a grudging appreciation from Dallas outlets that don’t support many of his local initiatives.

David Matthews operates the Wayback Machine on Fusion.net—hop on. Got a tip? Email him: [email protected]