‘Wartime lockdown’ — conservative pundit calls for sealed borders

Pundit and economist Larry Kudlow is calling on the federal government to seal U.S. borders until the nation overhauls refugee vetting and visa screening.

Kudlow, a former advocate of immigration reform, laid out his case in a National Review column posted Saturday. He said the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) requires “a wartime lockdown.”

{mosads}”There may be some unfairness to this. But I don’t care,” wrote Kudlow. “Wars breed unfairness, just as they breed collateral damage. We may set back tourism. We may anger Saudi princes whose kids are in American schools. But so be it. We need a wartime footing if we are going to protect the American homeland.”

Kudlow, who is reportedly mulling a 2016 Senate run against Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), also claimed President Obama “is not a commander-in-chief,” and that the U.S. could have defeated ISIS if it wanted to.

“Hopefully an immigration freeze will not be in place for very long,” Kudlow wrote. “But for now I believe we must do it. (By the way, keeping America safe is a prerequisite for growth.)”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Kudlow’s potential future colleague, mocked the column on Twitter.

This is not an Onion article. Larry Kudlow says let no one into America. Literally NO ONE. Ever. https://t.co/gYrvbRswrC via NRO

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 12, 2015

I am not 100% confident that it was really Kudlow. Prob a fake since total ban on visitors to US would, of course, collapse our economy.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 12, 2015

I think I should let him know. @larry_kudlow somebody hacked your computer and wrote this insane article. https://t.co/ULwtMPtv60 via NRO

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 12, 2015