Huckabee: Syrian refugee vetting ‘amounts to fairy dust’

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) expressed doubt Wednesday that the Obama administration is incapable of screening potential terrorists out of the Syrian refugee population.

“The issue is not about how many [refugees] or how few,” he told host Steve Kornacki on “MSNBC Live.” “We are being asked to just trust the federal government. We are being told nothing but what amounts to fairy dust about how wonderful their vetting process is.

“Now they just want us to just trust them that all the people coming here are going to behave and are not ISIS plants,” he added.

Huckabee criticized President Obama for accusing Republican White House hopefuls such as himself of politicizing Syria’s humanitarian crisis.

“It’s just astonishing to see the president make this all about himself and not the safety and security of the American people,” he said.

Obama lambasted the GOP’s 2016 presidential contenders early Wednesday for challenging his plan for resettling about 10,000 Syrian refugees by next year.

“Apparently they are scared of widows and orphans coming into America,” he told reporters during a press conference in the Philippines.

Obama’s strategy for helping Syrians displaced by their nation’s ongoing civil war is under fire following last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris. Reports have emerged that at least one attacker entered Europe by using a Syrian passport before the carnage that killed 129 people.

White House officials conducted a conference call with 34 state governors late Tuesday aimed at addressing their security concerns.

“The officials briefed the governors on the rigorous screening and security vetting process that is required before a refugee is able to travel to the United States,” the White House said in a statement that evening.

More than half of the nation’s gubernatorial offices have rejected Obama’s resettlement program, according to a tally compiled Tuesday by The Hill.

House lawmakers are now rushing for a vote temporarily halting the president’s strategy before they depart Thursday for a 10-day Thanksgiving recess.