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Newark — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” an idea that prompted one of his rivals to call him “unhinged.” The proposed ban would apply to immigrants and visitors alike, a sweeping prohibition affecting all adherents of Islam who want to come to the US. The idea also raised immediate questions about whether it could pass muster under constitutional protections of the free exercise of religion.
Trump’s campaign said in a statement that such a ban should stand “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” The statement added that the Republican front-runner’s proposal comes in response to a level of hatred among “large segments of the Muslim population” toward Americans.
“Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country can’t be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life,” Trump said in the statement.
He added on Twitter: “Just put out a very important policy statement on the extraordinary influx of hatred and danger coming into our country. We must be vigilant!”
Trump’s campaign has been marked by a pattern of inflammatory statements and he kicked off his campaign with a speech in which he said some Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals. He recently drew criticism for retweeting an image of inaccurate statistics that vastly overrepresented the number of whites killed by blacks.
But so far those and other errors of fact have not diminished his popularity among many Republican voters.
Since the Paris terrorist attacks, a number of Republican presidential contenders have proposed restrictions on Syrian refugees, with several suggesting preference for Christians seeking asylum and tighter surveillance in the US.
But Trump’s proposed ban goes much further than those ideas, and his Republican rivals were quick to reject the latest provocation from a candidate who has delivered no shortage of them.
“Donald Trump is unhinged,” Jeb Bush said via Twitter. “His ‘policy’ proposals are not serious”. Carly Fiorina said, “Trump’s overreaction is as dangerous as President Obama’s under-reaction”.
John Kasich slammed Trump’s “outrageous divisiveness,” while a more measured Ted Cruz, who has always been cautious about upsetting Trump’s supporters, said, “Well, that is not my policy.”
Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Trump’s proposed ban would apply to “everybody,” including Muslims seeking immigration visas as well as tourists seeking to enter the country.— AP.
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