Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney took to the Sunday cable talk shows to defend President Trump against allegations that his rhetoric or policies somehow played a role in the mass shooting by a white supremacist in New Zealand on Friday, saying on CBS' "Face the Nation," "I don't think anybody could say that the president is anti-Muslim."
Details: Pressed by host Margaret Brennan about Trump's call during the campaign to ban Muslims from entering the United States, Mulvaney said, "Take the words and put them in one category, and take the actions and put them in another." He pointed to Trump's work in defense of religious minorities all around the world, "including in the Middle East."
- Reality check: Muslims are not in a minority in any Middle Eastern country besides Israel.
The big picture: During a press conference on Friday, President Trump denied that white nationalism is becoming a threat around the world. He also failed to specifically mention or condemn the targeting of Muslims in the New Zealand shooting in his statement extending condolences. In a series of tweets on Sunday, Trump defended Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who was suspended by the network after making anti-Muslim comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar.
