Trump's Press Secretary Used the Quebec Shooting to Justify His Travel Ban

It's going to be a long four years.

January 31, 2017

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer reacts to reporters' questions
Image via Getty/Chip Somodevilla

On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. The idea behind the move, which abruptly took effect on Saturday, was to keep the "bad 'dudes,'" who are apparently plentiful "out there," from rushing America's borders and unleashing a wave of terror upon the country, Trump explained in his usual form on Twitter this morning. People were detained, nationwide protests ensued, and the weekend concluded with a gunman opening fire on a mosque in Quebec City, Canada, killing six and seriously injuring five more.

Canadian police have since charged one suspect with the murders, Reuters reports. His name is Alexandre Bissonnette, and he's a 27-year-old college student who grew up in Quebec. He also happens to be white, a non-Muslim, and a fan of Donald Trump—on Facebook, anyway. A second person who had been taken into custody, Mohamed Belkhadir, has since been declared a witness.

Nonetheless, the Trump Administration evidently thinks the shooting justifies its controversial travel ban. Today, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the attack was "a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant. It was also, he continued, "why the president is taking steps to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to our nation’s safety and security."

It's hard to miss the flaw in Trump's reasoning, as told by Spicer, but here it is: Keeping terrorists out of the country will stop gun-wielding killers already in it from committing atrocities. Also, Bissonnette's victims were Muslims—the exact people Trump's executive order is intended to rile up hatred against.