Donald Trump calls for barring Muslims from entering US

Trump has been increasingly virulent in his remarks targeting Muslim Americans since the deadly Paris attacks


Afp December 07, 2015
PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Monday called for a "total and complete" block on Muslims entering the United States, in the wake of last week's mass shooting in California by a Muslim couple believed to have been radicalised.

A statement from Trump's campaign team said the halt on Muslims entering the country should remain in place "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

Political correctness should not prevent 'profiling' of Muslims perceived as threat: Trump

The statement does not specify if the proposal would affect both tourists and immigrants, and also does not say if it would target American Muslims currently abroad.

Trump's campaign cites poll data allegedly showing "hatred toward Americans by large segments of the Muslim population."

"Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," the billionaire real estate mogul, who is leading in opinion polls among likely Republican voters, said in the statement.

"Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life."

Most Americans see Muslims like any other group after California shooting: poll

Trump has been increasingly virulent in his remarks targeting Muslim Americans since the deadly Paris attacks, and again in the wake of last week's shooting rampage in California, which left 14 dead and 21 wounded.

"Just put out a very important policy statement on the extraordinary influx of hatred & danger coming into our country. We must be vigilant!" Trump tweeted after the statement was released.



White House slams Trump's plan to ban Muslims

Senior White House officials in response, lined up Monday to condemn Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, saying it was contrary to US values and interests.

"You're being generous by describing it as a proposal," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, castigating the fiery Republican presidential frontrunner's latest outburst as "cynical."

"I think what Mr Trump is doing is something that he's been doing over the course of his entire campaign, which is... to play on people's fears in order to build support for his campaign."

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"I think what he's doing, he's dividing America in a really cynical way," Earnest told MSNBC.

A statement from Trump's campaign team earlier ignited a political firestorm, by suggesting he would stop Muslims from entering the country "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

The comments come in the wake of a mass shooting that saw a married couple kill 14 people and we denounced by many in his own party.

"It's entirely inconsistent with the kinds of values that were central to the founding of this country," said Earnest.

One of President Barack Obama's top foreign policy aides, Ben Rhodes, told CNN that the plan was also "contrary to our security."

"The fact of the matter is (the Islamic State group) wants to frame this as a war between the United States and Islam," he added.'

Would consider closing some US mosques: Donald Trump

"And if we look like we apply religious tests to who comes into to this country, we are sending a message that essentially we are embracing that."

Rhodes added that the move plan, if acted upon, would also call into question the United States' ability to work with Muslim communities to counter radicalisation.

Many Twitter users also condemned Trump's statement:



COMMENTS (52)

Eric Kumar | 8 years ago | Reply @curious2: The world should be reminded of some important precedents. Jimmy Carter banned Iranians from entering U.S. during the time Tehran held Americans hostages. Democrat icon Franklin Roosevelt interred Japanese- American citizens during world war II. In 1924 congress passed president Coolidge signed a law severely restricting immigrants following massive wave at the turn of the 20TH century in order to make sure they were assimilated. That law lasted until 1936.. Today America is faced with another major threat to our way of life. There is no constitutional right to come to America or even become an American. That is a privilege. You may not like Trump; might never vote for him. You might even think of him a bigot, but a lot what he says---while it may sound shocking---is a loud rebuke to those who think there is nothing wrong with unlimited immigration from countries that train terrorists. Said commentator Cal Thomas.
Trump the Next President of USA | 8 years ago | Reply He has the guts to say politically incorrect but practically correct ideas to save further harm to USA.... The problem with the West is that they always want to be politically correct... If any problem has gone too far to be tackled, some radical steps have to be taken... If a temporary ban is required to clean up issues, what is so wrong with that?? Moderate Muslims cannot keep just blaming Trump, they also have a responsibility to educate their communities that "Religion" and Religious practices are personal choices and these need to be confined to own homes, don't go to USA if you expect to practice "Sharia law"...People with Extremist ideologies need to be filtered for any country to continue providing safe and secured environment to its citizens.
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