On Monday Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump called for a total ban on Muslims entering the United States.
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” until the country’s representatives can “figure out what is going on.”
The Trump campaign released a statement Monday afternoon declaring his commitment to preventing Muslim immigration. The campaign justifies this discrimination by saying that large segments of the Muslim population bear “great hatred toward Americans.”
“Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension,” Trump said in a statement. “Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. 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. If I win the election for president, we are going to make America great again.”
Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States was widely rebuked, butsomewhat surprisingly his “plan” was also strongly criticized by a number of prominent Republicans.
When Trump mentioned the idea at a rally here Monday night onboard the USS Yorktown, he drew loud cheers from a massive crowd. But alarm inside the Republican Party over Trump’s idea — and his candidacy — hit a new level following his announcement.
Christie said there was “no question” that Trump’s idea was unconstitutional, but added that “there are folks in this race who don’t care about what the law says because they’re used to being able to just fire people indiscriminately on television.”
More remarkable were the comments from GOP officials in key states who usually stay neutral in presidential primary contests.
The chairmen of the Republican state parties in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — the first three states to vote in the primary process — all condemned Trump Monday evening in the strongest terms after the Republican presidential frontrunner announced his proposal.
“As a conservative who truly cares about religious liberty, Donald Trump’s bad idea and rhetoric send a shiver down my spine,” wrote Matt Moore, the chairman of the South Carolina GOP, on Twitter. “American exceptionalism means always defending our inalienable rights, not attacking them when it’s politically convenient.”
While I’m certainly encouraged that Donald Trump’s “plan” to ban all Muslims from entering the United States has been rebuked even by his fellow Republicans, the fact that his call for the ban met with wild applause and cheers from those in attendance at his campaign rally speaks volumes about the bigotry, fear, and anger that permeates those who constitute the base of the Republican Party.
Wasn’t it just last week that the Republicans including Paul Ryan opposed Syrian refugees coming to America? Some said they would take them if they were Christian. To me this isn’t a whole lot different from what Trump is saying now. If someone says they are a Christian, they will be allowed in. They are all crazy, not just Trump.Bush created this mess when he invaded Iraq and killed Sadam. Now Cheney presents himself as a champion of the people by opposing Trump. In reality, it is the pot calling the pan black. The truth is; there is no quick fix that will stop terrorist attacks but that is what people want to hear so Trump is putting it out there. If our next President is any one of the present Republican candidates, we are all in big trouble.