Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
Appearing as a guest on Friday's Morning Joe on MS NOW, Tom Rogers -- the founder of CNBC -- compared ICE to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as he advised Democrats to cave in to Republicans and support funding DHS to avoid blame if there is a terrorist attack.
MS NOW's Jackie Alemany brought up an op-ed Rogers published at Newsweek.com as she set up the discussion:
And something that you wrote, Tom, that I think is a very prescient and pressing factor here is that by not funding Homeland Security and undermining the federal government's ability to do anything possible to protect against potential terror attacks is a really bad idea, and something that Democrats might potentially own in the very terrible, unfortunate case that that does happen during a time of war.
Rogers began his response:
Well, I think that we've already seen the Iranian response when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz. The other response, which could well happen, is a major terrorist attack here. And if that were to happen, I think it's something that could rekindle support for President Trump.
He added:
It could really take away all the political momentum on affordability, on immigration, on how unpopular this war is and turn it into something where there is support for Trump on the basis that he simply blames the Democrats for not allowing the Department of Homeland Security to have the resources to protect the country at a time of war.
After arguing that Democrats should support protecting the country, he then made his obnoxious comparison between ICE and the Iranian military: "But there's no doubt the Democratic position is correct that we shouldn't have ICE running around acting like the Iranian Republican guard roughing people up on the streets without the constraints that police operate in in this country."
He concluded:
And, therefore, I think they should be the adults in the room and say, "Look, we're going to fund this for 60 days. We'll come back in 60 days and evaluate things. But we're the adults. We're going to relieve all the lines at airports, and we're going to make sure the country is protected even though the Republicans and Trump actually entered a war without thinking about protecting the country first and foremost.
Transcript follows:
MS NOW's Morning Joe
March 20, 2026
9:37 a.m. Eastern
JACKIE ALEMANY: And something that you wrote, Tom, that I think is a very prescient and pressing factor here is that by not funding Homeland Security and undermining the federal government's ability to do anything possible to protect against potential terror attacks is a really bad idea, and something that Democrats might potentially own in the very terrible, unfortunate case that that does happen during a time of war.
TOM ROGERS, FOUNDER OF CNBC: Well, I think that we've already seen the Iranian response when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz. The other response, which could well happen, is a major terrorist attack here. And if that were to happen, I think it's something that could rekindle support for President Trump. It could really take away all the political momentum on affordability, on immigration, on how unpopular this war is and turn it into something where there is support for Trump on the basis that he simply blames the Democrats for not allowing the Department of Homeland Security to have the resources to protect the country at a time of war.
And my view is, one, it is a time of war, and the number one priority should be protecting the homeland. Two, the Democrats should protect all the political momentum they have, which without some major event like that, I can't see any favorability of Trump's being rekindled anytime soon. Basically, hey, Democrats, don't blow it if something blows up here.
But there's no doubt the Democratic position is correct that we shouldn't have ICE running around acting like the Iranian Republican guard roughing people up on the streets without the constraints that police operate in in this country. And, therefore, I think they should be the adults in the room and say, "Look, we're going to fund this for 60 days. We'll come back in 60 days and evaluate things. But we're the adults. We're going to relieve all the lines at airports, and we're going to make sure the country is protected even though the Republicans and Trump actually entered a war without thinking about protecting the country first and foremost.
. steve malzberg
