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Bashar Assad Seems To Express Support For Trump's Muslim Ban

Some Syrian refugees are "definitely" terrorists, he said. "You can find it on the [internet]."
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Reporter, HuffPost

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Syrian President Bashar Assad appeared to take a page right out of President Donald Trump’s book when he asserted that some refugees from his own country are “definitely” terrorists.

He knows this, he said in an interview with Yahoo News chief investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff, because, “You can find it on the [internet].”

Trump signed an executive order during his first week in office to indefinitely ban the entry of all Syrians, including refugees, into the United States to protect the country from “radical Islamic terrorism.”

Assad’s justification seemingly fell in line with Trump’s reasoning, even though he wouldn’t overtly comment on Trump’s ban.

“Those terrorists in Syria holding the machine gun or killing people, they [appear as] peaceful refugees in Europe or in the West in general,” he said.

The Trumpian tone of Assad’s next response was undeniable ― it only takes a few radicals to endanger a country.

“The September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States were committed by [fewer than 20 terrorists], Assad said, “out of millions of immigrants in the United States.”

The U.S. has long been a leader in refugee resettlement, with the assistance of the United Nations that refers people to the government. People then undergo between 18 to 24 months of stringent vetting before their case can be accepted.

War has been raging in Syria since 2011 and has created 4.8 million refugees and millions more internally displaced persons. It has also killed hundreds of thousands. 

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Before You Go

Syrian Regime Closes In On Aleppo
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People walk amid the rubble as they carry belongings that they collected from their houses in the government controlled area of Aleppo, Syria December 17, 2016. (credit:Omar Sanadiki / Reuters)
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Civilians evacuated from the east part of Aleppo that had been under siege by Assad Regime forces and its supporter foreign terrorist groups, arrive Syria's Rashidin area on December 19, 2016. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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A boy, who was evacuated with others from a rebel-held area of Aleppo, rests upon his arrival at insurgent-held al-Rashideen, Syria December 19, 2016. (credit:Ammar Abdullah / Reuters)
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Syrians, who were evacuated from the last rebel-held pockets of Syria's northen city of Aleppo, arrive on December 19, 2016 in the opposition-controlled Khan al-Assal region, west of the embattled city. (credit:OMAR HAJ KADOUR via Getty Images)
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Children play while waiting to be evacuated with others from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 17, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters)
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A child sleeps while waiting to be evacuated with others from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 17, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters)
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A child reacts from inside a bus evacuating people from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 15, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters)
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Ambulances and buses evacuating people drive out of a rebel-held part of Aleppo, Syria December 15, 2016. (credit:Omar Sanadiki / Reuters)
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A man stands atop a damaged building as he takes pictures of ambulances and buses evacuating people and driving out of a rebel-held part of Aleppo, Syria December 15, 2016. (credit:Omar Sanadiki / Reuters)
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A wounded boy sits inside an ambulance as Syrian rebels and their families gather at the rebel-held al-Amiriyah neighbourhood as they wait to be evacuated to the government-controlled area of Ramoussa on the southern outskirts of the city on December 15, 2016. (credit:KARAM AL-MASRI via Getty Images)
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People gather to be evacuated from al-Sukkari rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 15, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters)
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A man reacts as he waits with others to be evacuated from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 15, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters)
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People get on buses to be evacuated from al-Sukkari rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 15, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters)
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A wounded Syrian woman from the al-Sukari neighbourhood is helped onto the back of a truck as she flees during the ongoing government forces military operation to retake remaining rebel-held areas in the northern embattled city of Aleppo on December 14, 2016. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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Syrian pro-government forces advance in the Jisr al-Haj neighbourhood during the ongoing military operation to retake remaining rebel-held areas in the northern embattled city of Aleppo on December 14, 2016. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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A general view shows smoke rising from buildings in Aleppo's southeastern al-Zabdiya neighbourhood following government strikes on December 14, 2016. (credit:STRINGER via Getty Images)
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Syrian pro-government forces advance in the Jisr al-Haj neighbourhood during the ongoing military operation to retake remaining rebel-held areas in the northern embattled city of Aleppo on December 14, 2016. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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Syrian pro-government forces advance in the Jisr al-Haj neighbourhood during the ongoing military operation to retake remaining rebel-held areas in the northern embattled city of Aleppo on December 14, 2016. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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Children walk together as they flee deeper into the remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria December 13, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)
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A general view shows Syrian pro-government forces walking in the ancient Umayyad mosque in the old city of Aleppo on December 13, 2016, after they captured the area. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood on December 13, 2016, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (credit:STRINGER via Getty Images)
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A member of the Syrian pro-government forces walks holding a Syrian flag in the old city of Aleppo on December 13, 2016 after they captured the area. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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Syrian pro-government forces take a selfie in the courtyard of the ancient Umayyad mosque in the old city of Aleppo on December 13, 2016. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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People flee deeper into the remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria December 13, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)
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A still image from video taken December 13, 2016 of a general view of eastern Aleppo, Syria in the rain. Video released December 13, 2016. REUTERS/via ReutersTV (credit:Reuters TV / Reuters)
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Syrians leave a rebel-held area of Aleppo towards the government-held side on December 13, 2016 during an operation by Syrian government forces to retake the embattled city. (credit:KARAM AL-MASRI via Getty Images)
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People walk as they flee deeper into the remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria December 13, 2016. (credit:Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters)
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A general view shows destruction in Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood after pro-government forces captured the area in the eastern part of the war torn city on December 13, 2016. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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A member of forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad attempts to erect the Syrian national flag inside the Umayyad mosque, in the government-controlled area of Aleppo, during a media tour, Syria December 13, 2016. (credit:Omar Sanadiki / Reuters)
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A member of forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad walks inside the Umayyad mosque, in the government-controlled area of Aleppo, during a media tour, Syria December 13, 2016. (credit:Omar Sanadiki / Reuters)
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A member of the Syrian government forces stands in a severely damaged street in Aleppo's newly captured Al-Kalasseh neighbourhood in the eastern part of the war torn city on December 13, 2016. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood on December 13, 2016, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters. (credit:STRINGER via Getty Images)
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A general view shows Syrian pro-government forces walking in the ancient Umayyad mosque in the old city of Aleppo on December 13, 2016, after they captured the area. After weeks of heavy fighting, regime forces were poised to take full control of Aleppo, dealing the biggest blow to Syria's rebellion in more than five years of civil war. (credit:YOUSSEF KARWASHAN via Getty Images)
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Syrian pro-government forces walk in Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood after they captured the area in the eastern part of the war torn city on December 13, 2016. (credit:GEORGE OURFALIAN via Getty Images)
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Syrians leave a rebel-held area of Aleppo towards the government-held side on December 13, 2016 during an operation by Syrian government forces to retake the embattled city. (credit:KARAM AL-MASRI via Getty Images)
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Syrian civilians leave towards safer rebel-held areas in Aleppo, on December 13, 2016, during an operation by Syrian government forces to retake the embattled city. (credit:STRINGER via Getty Images)
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