US Representative Stephen F. Lynch firmly declared his opposition to Donald Trump on Thursday, saying that "we are in trouble" if the Republican presidential candidate succeeds in his bid for the White House.
Lynch, appearing on The Boston Globe's "Political Happy Hour" interview program, cited Trump's statements about blocking Muslims from entering the country, building a wall along the Mexican border, and mass deportations of illegal immigrants as remarks that are inappropriate for a presidential contender.
"He says, 'Yeah, we're going to have to round them up,' " Lynch said. "This is a presidential candidate talking about rounding up people."
But Lynch, a South Boston Democrat, said he also understands the appeal that Trump has among many voters.
"He is honest, you have to give him credit," Lynch said, adding that many other candidates sound like "cookie-cutter" hopefuls following a script, while Trump "seems so genuine and real and much more colorful and animated."
A Trump spokeswoman could not be reached for comment on Lynch's remarks.
The veteran congressman emphatically stated that the Democratic candidate he supports, Hillary Clinton, does not have the same authenticity problems that have plagued some of her rivals.
"Hillary's the real deal," Lynch said of the former secretary of state.
He credited Clinton with helping to negotiate the release in 2011 of a CIA officer who fatally shot two men in Pakistan, allegedly after they tried to rob him at gunpoint.
"Hillary Clinton went in there and very deftly and very courageously negotiated his release," Lynch told Joshua Miller, the Globe's host of "Happy Hour."
The congressman, a ranking member of a national security committee who has made dozens of trips to the Middle East, was also asked if the Islamic State can be defeated and if President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry have a plan for victory.
"I do think that they can be defeated," Lynch replied. "It's going to require internal pressure within the Muslim community as well as killing the bad guys. ... I think that [Obama and Kerry] have articulated a cause in terms of why we need to disassemble and destroy ISIL, and why it's advantageous for the free world to do so. I am not sure they've articulated a plan to do so."
Lynch reiterated his opposition to using ground troops to defeat the Islamic State and said he believes fixing war-torn Syria, where the group has a foothold, could take 20 years.
He said the United States and its Western allies need input from Arab countries and that if Syrian President Bashar Assad is ousted or steps down, the nation will require a caretaker government until the Syrian people can assemble their own democratic system.
"You don't export democracy through the Defense Department," said Lynch, who conceded that he would not have voted in 2002 to authorize military force against Iraq if he knew that intelligence reports about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction were false.
Regarding another security issue, Lynch explained why he and several colleagues are pressing to declassify a section of a congressional report on the Sept. 11 terror attacks that he says demonstrates the complicity of certain Saudi individuals and entities in the plot.
"I think it would cause us to become more judicious, more thorough, more thoughtful, and more vigilant in our own defense," he said.
Turning to local issues, Lynch welcomed the news that General Electric is moving to Boston's Seaport district and said, "I give Mayor [Martin J.] Walsh and Governor [Charlie] Baker great credit for that."
Lynch, a former labor leader, called GE a "great corporate citizen."
Asked about US Senator Elizabeth Warren's past criticism of the company for paying "nothing in taxes," Lynch said he has clashed with GE in the past, including when they closed a plant in his district in Avon, though he credited the firm with offering the workers jobs in other locations and adding positions in the state's life sciences industry.
"They're going to have to pay their fair share in taxes," Lynch said. "But I also think they are net contributors in terms of jobs."
During a lighter segment of the program, Lynch said he is a Globe subscriber and joked that delivery "has been very poor" of late, referencing the newspaper's recent delivery woes.
He said the paper, while fair, has sometimes criticized him for his centrist positions.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.