Transcript: Michelle Malkin on Neil Cavuto

Cavuto: In addition to violent protests, Arabs in the middle east have been boycotting anything Danish and now, word is, that those boycotts are starting to work. It’s costing Danish companies millions. That’s why Michelle Malkin says it is high time for us to buy Danish, and not just the pastries I gobble up every morning. What do you mean Michelle?

Malkin: Well I think that Denmark has been unfairly targeted here. They are a convenient scapegoat for Islamists who are waging a larger war on the west. And right now this small little country is bearing the brunt of the anger, irrational anger, of a lot of people througout the middle east.

Cavuto: All right, let’s spell, let’s spell it out. We know it’s cost them upwards of 30 million U.S. dollars. You’re saying if you want to buy Danish you should do it now and there are some examples of that. Let’s go through some of them.

{graphic listing Havarti cheese, LEGO toys and Skagen Watches}

Malkin: Sure. There are at least a dozen websites now that have been set up for people to buy Danish. And we’re talking about everything from Danish food shops, to the LEGO company, to a lot of liquor and beer manufacturers, Carlsburg for example. There were a lot of people on Superbowl Sunday who traded in their Velveeta Cheese for Havarti Cheese. And even though it seems like a minor and inconsequential thing, I’ve heard from a lot of Danes who are very appreciative of these kinds of efforts. Let’s talk about the bottom line. You’ve got large retailers like Arla Foods who are suffering and feeling real pain. They temporarily laid off some 125 workers. And this is largely affecting more the consumer goods retailers than it is capital goods exports. I think that Denmark will ultimately be able to weather it, but as I say, there are a lot of individual companies that are feeling pain. You even have a pharmaceutical company Novo-Nordis which had a huge contract with Turkey cancelled over these cartoons, which means a lot of people in Turkey are not going to be getting insulin – over pictures.

Cavuto: But are we overstating it? $30 million sounds like a lot in terms here, but to many I’ve talked to Michelle, it’s really just, you know, “chump change.” And that we are making a bigger deal of this by vowing to buy Danish products, when in fact, the hit on the Danish economy is minimal.

Malkin: Well, look, I mean there are two aspects of the Support Denmark campaign. One is to try and help the bottom line of these companies, and sure, Neil, you’re right that in the larger scheme of things, Denmark will be able to weather it. But there is also a moral component here, a show of solidarity for a country that’s been singled out over ridiculous purposes and which, as I say, this whole thing was orchestrated from the beginning and the cartoons that the Jyllands-Posten published are a pretext for some larger issues going on here.

Cavuto: Michelle, thank you very much. Always good seeing you.

Michelle has tons of links at her blog to GO BUY DANISH!