The Islamic State Doesn't Deserve the 'Dignity' of Being Called Islamic? Watch DHS Secretary Get Hammered Over Labels

It has the word "Islamic" built right into its name — but highly ranked government officials refuse to call it "Islamic."

In a grilling on "Fox News Sunday" this week, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson offered a curious explanation for why the Obama administration won't label the Islamic State as an "Islamic" terrorist group.

“From my perspective, whether referred to as Islamic extremism or violent extremism, [the Islamic State] is a terrorist organization that represents a serious potential threat to our homeland which has to be addressed through a whole government approach,” Johnson said, before claiming that he'd spoken with many Muslims who see the Islamic State as having "hijacked" Islam.

The reason the Obama administration won't use the term Islamic, according to Johnson:

To refer to [the Islamic State] as occupying any part of Islamic theology is playing on a battlefield that they would like us to be on. To call them some form of Islamic gives the group more dignity than it deserves.

Host John Roberts fired back with some more tough questions — and Johnson evaded actually answering them.

“If you don’t identify them as a radical terrorist, religious ideology, can you adequately address the threat and develop a winning strategy?” Roberts asked.

Johnson responded by repeating his claim about dignity.

Roberts then asked why President Barack Obama has compared the Islamic State's atrocities to actions of Christian crusaders 1,000 years ago — and Johnson started talking about the need for a DHS budget agreement.

Watch the interview below:

Johnson's comments come in the same week that The Atlantic published a deep look into the psyche of the Islamic State — and concluded that the group is inescapably religious and Islamic.

(H/T: Mediaite)

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Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter