I actually get where Tucker is coming from, but he's profoundly & dangerously wrong. There is nothing unpatriotic about criticising your country: in fact, it's CRUCIAL that critics are listened to, however extreme their views (& Ilhan's aren't that extreme). 1/ https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1148761751414087680

Yes, if your views are directly threatening, I see the point. If Ilhan were advocating jihad or a caliphate, I'd oppose her & yes, I think we should probably vet immigrants & reject those with extremist religious beliefs, if possible. But that's not what's happening here. 2/

Ilhan is criticising what she sees as problems within the heart of American society: not because she wants to destroy America, but because she wants to make the place better. You may disagree with how she represents & diagnoses the problems: I DO!!! I'm not a huge fan. 3/

But you cannot & must not describe critique of your country government, politics, ethics, mores, customs, etc. as unpatriotic, whether it comes from citizens or outsiders. Bad things need to be criticised. 4/

The parallels with India are obvious to me here. The right always presents the idea that those who are deeply critical of the government, of aspects of Indian culture, etc. must be third columnists, Bangladeshi immigrants, unassimilated, invaders of some kind. 5/

Actually, many of those who criticise their country the most harshly also love it the most fervently. 6/

Pinning the criticism on "foreigners" is dodging the real issue. Is the criticism itself valid or not? 7/

I confess, I like Tucker. At times, he himself is an astute critic of some of the most extraordinary hypocrisies of American society. I loved the piece he did on masks. But he's more often deeply muddle-headed. As he is here. 8/

All of you who think criticising a government is unpatriotic, please bear in mind that, in a Democratic country, governments change. The political tenor of a country is not part of some eternal essence. 9/