Trump Ambassador Pick Called Refugees ‘Unwanted Invaders,’ Advocated ‘Shooting People’ at Mexico Border

President Donald Trump’s new nominee to be ambassador to Germany has previously called refugees to Europe “unwanted invaders” while criticizing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s willingness to accept millions of refugees from the Middle East.

In a 2018 interview on the radio show Conservative Commandos, Trump’s nominee, retired Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor, referred to Germany’s government as “extremely bizarre,” saying that it “seems more concerned about providing free services to millions of unwanted Muslim invaders, to be blunt, than it does about its own armed forces in the defense of its country.”

{snip}

As for the U.S. response to asylum seekers and immigrants at the southern border, McGregor suggested that the government should deploy troops and “shoot people.”

“Well, the only solution is martial law on the border, putting the United States Army in charge of it, and closing it off would take about 30-40,000 troops. We’re talking about the regular army. You need robust rules of engagement,” he said in 2019 on radio’s The Joe Piscopo Show. “That means that you can shoot people as required if your life is in danger.”

{snip}

Judd Deere, a deputy White House press secretary, told CNN that “while the Swamp may feel threatened by President Trump’s nominee, who believes strongly in putting America first, the White House wants to see this critical diplomatic post filled without delay.” Deere said McGregor was “enormously qualified” to fill the ambassador post.

{snip}