Donald Trump Wants To Ban Muslims From Entering The U.S.
Presidential hopeful and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Monday released a statement calling for a “complete” ban on Muslim travel into the United States.
The statement, which Trump posted following a tweet that called out what he believes to be the “extraordinary influx of hatred and danger coming into our country” — states the ban should be in place until “our country’s representatives can figure out what’s going on.”
The proposal, quickly condemned by politicians, does not specify the lengths at which the ban would go. Trump also does not specify a clear reason for the halt on Muslims entering the country, instead citing “Pew Research” that allegedly shows a “great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.”
“Most recently, a poll from the Center for Security Policy released data showing ‘25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad’ and 51% of those polled, ‘agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah,’” the statement reads.
“Shariah authorizes such atrocities as murder against non-believers who won’t convert, beheadings and more unthinkable acts that pose great harm to Americans, especially women.”
“Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension,” Trump continues. “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.”
Contrary to Trump’s “data” that Americans bear the brunt of attacks by those of Islamic faith, anti-Islam attacks sparked by heightened Islamophobia nearly tripled after the Paris and San Bernardino shootings. In fact, in the weeks following the Paris attacks, the Council on American-Islamic Relations received a number of reports about anti-Muslim attacks that hadn’t been seen since 9/11.
And the idea that Islam or overseas terrorism is a bigger threat to the nation is false — 80 percent of terrorist attacks since 9/11 were committed by U.S. citizens.
Trump’s rhetoric, sadly, isn’t just his own. In fact, a Pew survey in September 2014 showed that 50 percent of Americans think Islam encourages violence. And with a continued and aggressive agenda to paint Islam as a religion of hate — Trump also proposed a database to track all Muslims in the country — attacks against Muslims that are not connected to Islamic extremists in any way will continue.
It’s the exact thing President Obama warned against in a Sunday address condemning ISIS and urging Americans to support Muslims.
“ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs, and killers,” Obama said in a Sunday address from the Oval Office.
“We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want…Moreover, the vast majority of terrorist victims around the world are Muslim,” he said. “We must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than pushing them away through suspicion and hate.”
Looks like Trump missed the message…and the research.
SOURCE: DonaldJTrump.com | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
SEE ALSO:
“They Are Thugs & Killers:” Obama Condemns Radical Terrorists, Urges Americans To Support Muslims
Fighting Terrorism: 6 Takeaways From President Obama’s ISIS Speech