'I'm Not Trump': Snyder on Muslim Refugees

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SOUTHFIELD, MI - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who started a stampede among governors closing their states’ doors to Syrian refugees after the Paris terror attacks, on Wednesday distanced himself from Donald Trump, the GOP presidential frontrunner whose call this week to close the U.S. borders to Muslims fueled already strong anti-Muslim rhetoric in America.

“Just as it’s not right to lump people together, lumping me with Donald Trump just because we’re both Republicans is not a good thing,” Snyder said during an interview in the Southfield studios of WWJ Radio.

The governor condemned Trump’s call for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States as “absolutely inappropriate.”

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“It doesn’t reflect the spirit of America,” Snyder said. “We want to be a welcoming place.”

He said “embracing immigration” is ”what made us a great country.”

“Didn’t people get concerned after Paris?” Snyder said. “Didn’t you get concerned after bombings in Lebanon? Didn’t people get concerned after watching an … airplane blow up over Egypt?”

The governor has previously said that state and local authorities should be involved in developing security vetting procedures for refugees because they would be the first to respond to a security threat. Once vetting issues are worked out and officials strike “the right balance with national security,” Snyder said he’s open to more Syrian refugees coming to Michigan.

“I’ve always said that,” he told WWJ. “I’ve always been very consistent about that.”

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Snyder said the large number of Arab-Americans living in Michigan have contributed greatly to the state.

“I’ve been quite clear that I’m proud of the fact that we have the largest Arab-American community in the United States here in Michigan,” he said. “ … It represents wonderful, wonderful diversity.”