Culture

Sonia Kruger Is Mad That You Think She’s Racist For Wanting To Ban Muslim Immigrants

She's not sorry about her comments on 'Today'... because she's a mother?

by Sinead Stubbins  18 July 2016

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This morning on Today, Sonia Kruger argued that “there is a correlation between the number of Muslims in a country and the number of terrorist attacks” and thus, Australia should ban the immigration of Muslim people all together. This moronic statement came from a discussion about an editorial by Andrew Bolt, which claimed that the recent terrorist attack in Nice was as a result of France “letting the most Muslims in”, which nope, is incorrect.

Despite protests from co-host David Campbell who said that arguments like this “breed hate” and that freedom of religion was a right that needed to be protected, Kruger struggled to understand why a blanket ban on Muslims wouldn’t just solve that pesky terrorism problem at last. Her point was that the parents of the children killed in Nice “would be of the same opinion”… so case closed?

“Just to clarify Sonia, you would like our borders closed to Muslim people?” Lisa Wilkinson said. “Yes, I would,” replied Kruger.

It’s important to note that Sonia Kruger’s comments were not taken out of context, nor could they be blamed on a slip of the tongue. When Wilkinson mockingly asked if Kruger was taking “a Donald Trump approach” to immigration, Kruger agreed that she was (watch as David Campbell starts physically edging away from her as she starts talking about the “safety of citizens” on Australia Day).

Judging by a statement that Kruger tweeted this afternoon, she’s not backing down either. This isn’t a case of someone stuffing up on TV out of ignorance and then being shamed instead of educated — this is someone who is using motherhood to justify casual bigotry. Ah, the old “democratic society” excuse, forever a haven for those with prejudiced views.

Kruger’s comments are even more troubling when you consider that she wasn’t just a ‘colourful’ morning show guest that Today rolled out for the Twitter engagement, she actually hosts the sister show, Today Extra. This kind of behaviour on breakfast TV isn’t just an isolated incident, either. Remember when Karl asked some Indian cricket fans who was looking after the 7-Elevens? When Samantha Armytage kind of congratulated a mixed-raced woman for being lighter-skinned than her twin? Or the fact that Sunrise has been paying Pauline Hanson to spout derogatory and dangerous views this whole time?

Some of these incidents may have been a misunderstanding, but Kruger it seems won’t be apologising for conflating a whole religion with a terrorist sect. Australia, it’s fair to say that we’ve got a morning show problem.