GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump upped the ante on his opponents earlier this week, when he called for a “complete and total shutdown” on Muslims entering the United States. What prompted his call was the terrorist shooting deaths of citizens in San Bernadino, California, perpetrated by two Muslims. The FBI says the two muslims were “radicalized.”
It was alleged The Donald had previously called for a database of all Muslims in the USA.
The real estate mogul certainly knows how to wind up the media and other politicians, guaranteeing himself more publicity and more followers.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, Trump reminded his audience about the events of September 11, 2001, saying, “We have no choice … Stern measures must be taken.”
Trump’s comments wound up the liberal media, especially when he said the US should be .” .. preventing Muslim immigration.” As expected he also elicited condemnation from Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton. Less expected was condemnation from the Republican former Vice President, Dick Cheney. We already know other Republican candidates and their PACs have been attacking Trump in the past month.
Trump must be doing something right because now he has Democrats, Republicans, the media and The White House attacking him.
Jeb Bush issued a tweet saying that Trump is “unhinged. His ‘policy’ proposals are not serious.” Other critics included four of the GOP presidential candidates, Ohio Governor John Kasich, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Trump’s name appeared in numerous social media messages along with the hashtags #racism, #fascism, #bigot and others.
Following the San Bernardino terrorist attack, which the White House wanted to call a “workplace shooting,” Trump said that muslims entering the United States should be stopped .” .. until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on. 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.”
Donald Trump is not the only one calling for such a move. Other Republican candidates called for a suspension to the Obama plan to bring 10,000 or more Syrians, almost all muslims into the United States.
What triggered these latest comments from The Donald was the FBI revelation that U.S.-born Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistan-born wife, Tashfeen Malik, who came to the United States from Saudi Arabia were the perpetrators of the mass killings in San Bernadino.
Speaking to MSNBC, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Donald Trump seeks to “tap into a darker side, a darker element, and try to play on people’s fears in order to build support for his campaign.” Earnest didn’t admit that most of the other leading Republican presidential candidates also condemned the Trump comments. The exception was Ted Cruz who said he disagreed but had no comment.
