Trump rejects criticism of his proposal to ban Muslims

“What you’re doing by rejecting the politics of fear is leadership”, wrote another.

The idea announced by Trump Monday evening drew swift rebukes, some from overseas. “That is certainly completely wrong”. Muslims in the United States and around the world denounced it as unconstitutional or offensive. “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”. “Trump obviously has the legal right to enter that city”.

Trump responded by arguing that the U.S. is “at war” with jihadists.

President Barack Obama said immigrants and tourists could not start being judged by their religion, adding: “We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between American and Islam”. At the campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump acknowledged that his statement on Muslims might not be “politically correct” but said he “does not care”.

In a statement, he cited a Center for Security Policy poll he said indicated, “25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad”. “My ancestors got here because they were Puritans”, he said. CNN interviewed a few people, and some of them commended the Republican presidential candidate for being bold and calling it like it is. But by putting it in writing, as a formal policy proposal, he has upped the ante.

Jeb Bush called Trump “unhinged”, while John Kasich chalked it up to “more of the outrageous divisiveness that characterizes his every breath”.

Cuomo later told Trump that “people who are in the business of keeping us safe” say his Muslim-banning proposal is “stupid”.

In the late 1800s, Congress passed legislation broadly aimed at halting Chinese immigration.

“Excluding nearly a quarter of the world’s population from setting foot in the United States based exclusively upon their religious identity would never pass constitutional muster”, Volpp said.

Last week a Muslim couple, believed to have been radicalised, opened fire and killed 14 people at a health centre in San Bernardino.

Trump has made numerous controversial statements about Muslims during his presidential campaign. Another idea he was open to is surveilling mosques.

“Donald Trump sounds more like a leader of a lynch mob than a great nation like ours”. While a Trump spokeswoman told The Hill the plan would affect “everyone” when asked it if would bar American Muslims traveling overseas from returning, Trump clarified Tuesday morning to ABC News that American citizens would be exempt.