Donald Trump for “Complete Shutdown” of Muslim entry to U.S.

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” on Monday evening in the wake of the San Bernardino terrorist attack and hours before a campaign rally on the USS Yorktown, a second world war aircraft carrier berthed near Charleston, South Carolina.

Jessica Glenza reported from New York to The Guardian, “Trump proposed the “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims’ entry into the United States on Monday evening, hours before a campaign rally on the USS Yorktown, a second world war aircraft carrier berthed near Charleston, South Carolina. The statement came in response to a shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people. The FBI is investigating the massacre as an act of terrorism inspired by ISIS. Trump remains the frontrunner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.”

Donald Trump Plan

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has provoked condemnation from across the political spectrum, by saying Muslims should be banned from entering the US. Republicans, Democrats, Muslim leaders, the UN and foreign leaders criticised the call as dangerous and divisive.

Reaction and Response

The White House promptly responded to Trump’s call. “We should be making it harder for ISIL to portray this as a war between the United States and Islam, not easier,” said Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to President Obama. “It’s totally contrary to our values as Americans. . . . It’s also contrary to our security.” Time magazine reported.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest later challenged the Republican Party to denounce the leading candidate, and said that the proposal “disqualifies him from serving as president”. Mr Earnest said that the Trump campaign had a “dustbin of history” quality to it, calling the candidate a “carnival barker” with “fake hair“.

Reaction from Within

The Republican Party

Mr Trump’s proposed ban prompted a horrified reaction from Republicans and others. Ed Pilkington reported in the Guardian on 8 December, 2015, Trump’s remarks immediately drew condemnation from Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley, who tweeted: “@realdonaldtrump removes all doubt: he is running for President as a fascist demagogue.” Other politicians on both sides of the aisle quickly followed suit including former vice president Dick Cheney.

Jessica Glenza reported in the Guardian, “Prominent Republicans from across the spectrum have condemned Trump’s proposals. Former US vice-president Dick Cheney said barring Muslims from entering the country “goes against everything we stand for and believe in”, in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.”

Republican presidential rival Lindsey Graham said: “What has been in the past absurd and hateful has turned dangerous.” He told the Guardian: “Donald Trump today took xenophobia and religious bigotry to a new level. His comments are hurting the war effort and putting our diplomats and soldiers serving in the Middle East at risk. The way to win this war is to reach to the vast majority of people in Islamic faith who reject Isil and provide them the capability to resist this ideology. Ed Pilkington reported,

Ed Pilkington also added, “Today’s statement embraces a ‘fortress America’ approach, is doomed to fail and shows a complete lack of understanding by Donald Trump as to what the war is all about. As to interpreters and others who have helped American military in Iraq and Afghanistan, this policy, if enacted, would be a death sentence.”

Among his rivals, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush called Trump “unhinged”; Ohio Governor John Kasich called his statement “outrageous divisiveness”, while Florida Senator Marco Rubio called it “offensive and outlandish”. Former US Vice President Dick Cheney said Trump’s statement “goes against everything we stand for and believe in”.

Democratic Party

Democrats were direct in their condemnation. Former Maryland governor and Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley called Trump a “fascist demagogue”. And Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton called the proposal “reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive”. “This makes us less safe,” the candidate said on Twitter.

US President Obama

In this connection it is most important to mention President Obama’s remarks on Muslims. Following is the highlights from the President’s rare address from the Oval Office.

“We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam,” Obama said. “That, too, is what groups like Isil want. Isil does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers. Part of a cult of death. And they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion Muslims around the world, including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology.

“Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors. Our co-workers. Our sports heroes. And, yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country,” he added. “We have to remember that.”

Response from American Muslims

Trump’s threat was met with perplexed anger on the part of prominent Muslim American groups. Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the largest such group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said on Twitter: “Where is there left for him to go? Are we talking internment camps? Are we talking the final solution?”

Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said, “Donald Trump sounds more like a leader of a lynch mob than a great nation like ours,” adding “These are not just words… Trump and Carson’s mainstreaming of Islamophobia in the election is inciting discrimination, hate crimes, violent attacks against Muslims and mosques.”

Jessica Glenza reported to The Guardian, Trump’s latest proposal “sounds more like a fascist leader of the 40s than a man who is running to be the leader of a civilized nation like the United States”, said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in an opinion piece for the Guardian, suggesting a comparison between Trump and Adolf Hitler. Ahwad called on Republicans to condemn Islamophobia, as President Obama did in a rare Sunday evening address from the Oval Office.

But the condemnation hasn’t just been confined to these shores.

UK Prime Minister and

His French counterpart

The UK’s Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said they were “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong”, while his French counterpart Manuel Valls said Mr Trump “stoked hatred”.

Matt Dathan online political reporter wrote in The Independent , “Leaders across the political spectrum in the UK united in condemnation of Mr Trump’s latest controversial comments. Labour’s candidate for London Mayor Sadiq Khan, himself a Muslim, said he hoped Mr Trump’s campaign “dies a death. His Conservative rival, Zac Goldsmith, described Mr Trump as “one of the most malignant figures in modern politics,” adding: “I hope his campaign ends in absolute disaster.” Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, took to Twitter to voice her dismay:

Mayor of London

Boris Johnson

Matt Dathan also reported, “Boris Johnson has hit out at Donald Trump for his  “ill-informed comments” calling for Muslims to be banned from the United States” to ensure the country does not end up with “radicalised” no-go area like London. He described Mr Trump’s remarks as “complete and utter nonsense” and invited Mr Trump to visit the capital to experience the work of UK police officers in local neighbourhoods across the city.”

“As a city where more than 300 languages are spoken, London has a proud history of tolerance and diversity and to suggest there are areas where police officers cannot go because of radicalisation is simply ridiculous,” the Mayor of London said.   “I would welcome the opportunity to show Mr Trump first hand some of the excellent work our police officers do every day in local neighbourhoods throughout our city. “Crime has been falling steadily both in London and in New York – and the only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.” Reported in The Independent.

UN Official

UN refugee agency UNHCR said it was concerned that the rhetoric was putting an “incredibly important” resettlement programme for vulnerable Syrian refugees at risk.

Trump’s contentious views on

Mexicans, war veterans and women

Mr. Trump criticised Mexicans, then war veterans, women and fellow Republicans.  But each time, Donald Trump refused to back down and emerged with his poll numbers growing.

Ed Pilkington reported in the Guardian about Donald Trump’s contentious views how to deal with American Muslims, Mexicans and women. “Trump has come under fire before for his contentious views on how to deal with the threat of domestic radicalization of Muslims. He has refused to rule out creating a government database of all American Muslims.

“He has also called for the deportation of 11 million undocumented Hispanics, as well as said were he elected president, he would build a wall along the border with Mexico.

Since the Paris attacks orchestrated by Islamic State, and last week’s attack in San Bernardino, California by a married couple inspired by the terror group, Trump has sought to build his already substantial lead over his Republican presidential rivals by portraying himself as being tougher than all others on national security. He responded in a Twitter on Sunday night to President Obama’s Oval Office address on combating the Isis threat by saying: “Is that all there is? We need a new President – FAST!”, Ed Pilkington reported.

He mentioned, “In his address to the nation on Sunday night, the president was at his most passionate when he made an appeal to Americans for tolerance in the aftermath of the California shooting. Obama specifically sought to underscore that while Muslims have a responsibility to identify and reject extremism within their ranks, Americans cannot lose sight of the fact that the vast majority of Islam’s more than a billion followers are peaceful.”