Trump: Obama sending refugees to Republican statesGee, thanks for that tiny asterisk at the end, Politico. It mitigates your validation of this talking point somewhat -- but not enough.
The Obama administration is deliberately sending Syrian refugees to states led by Republican governors, Donald Trump alleged Tuesday.
Trump, who was speaking to conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, said of the refugees, “They send them to the Republicans, not to the Democrats, you know because they know the problem ... why would we want to bother the Democrats?”
... Ingraham said that she had spoken with Florida's Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, who told her his state is already hosting dozens of Syrian refugees because “everybody wants to come to Florida” due to its low taxes and ample job opportunities.
“In California, you have a Democrat as a governor; in Florida you have Rick Scott so they send them to the Republicans,” Trump told Ingraham. “Taking these people is absolutely insanity.”
According to the Associated Press, governors from both parties have accepted refugees, although the number is nearly double for GOP states. More than 1,000 Syrian refugees have been accepted into states with Republican governors since January 1, while just over 500 have moved to Democratic-led states. (The number of Republican governors outweighs Democrats, 31 to 18, however.)
Here's what Trump says: " “They send them to the Republicans, not to the Democrats." But which states are "the Republicans"? According to Trump -- and Politico --"the Republicans" include the deep-blue state of Massachusetts, which has an overwhelmingly Democratic electorate and legislature, just because it now has a Republican governor.
It's true, according to AP's numbers, that states with Republican governors have taken the majority of the Syrian refugees. But that includes several states that voted for Obama twice, and are considered reliably blue in presidential elections. If Obama is trying to punish Republican states with refugees, why are the refugees ending up in states that backed Obama?
Here are the numbers:
* Syrian refugees in red states (GOP governor, twice rejected Obama): 629So, yes, there are 1316 Syrian refugees in states with Republican governors and 508 in states with Democratic governors.
(Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah)
* Syrian refugees in blue states (Democratic governor, twice voted for Obama): 508
(California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington)
* Syrian refugees in presidential blue/gubernatorial red states (GOP governor but twice voted Obama): 646
(Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Wisconsin)
* Syrian refugees in presidential purple/gubernatorial red states (GOP governor but voted Obama in 2008): 41
(Indiana, North Carolina)
But there are 1154 Syrian refugees in states that voted Obama twice (plus 41 in states that voted for him once), and only 629 in states that never voted for him.
So what's red? What's blue? Well, Politico? Could you have made an effort to provide context?
