MSNBC host Craig Melvin said Friday that the reasons listed off by a fellow network contributor for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union sounded "like some old-fashioned xenophobia."
Melvin interviewed MSNBC contributor Christopher Dickey, the world news editor for The Daily Beast, for the segment, in which Dickey revealed a surprisingly strong number of younger British people voted for the so-called "Brexit."
"A lot of it has to do with ... the fear that was driving this," Dickey said. "The idea that terrorism, immigration, migrants, all of that was somehow threatening the British way of life and threatening the possibilities of getting jobs for young people, even though there was very little proof of that. It's all about building walls to try and keep the status quo and say we can improve things, if we can keep the status quo and keep our, as they say, independence."
"It sounds like some old-fashioned xenophobia," Melvin said.
The successful vote to leave the European Union sent shockwaves around the world. Prime Minister David Cameron, who had pushed for the UK to remain, announced he would resign, and the vote also has caused turmoil in the stock market. Proponents of leaving celebrated their victory as one for "independence" and against the "failed project" of the European Union.