Trump calls for ban on Muslims entering US
December 8, 2015
The Republican frontrunner for the 2016 US Presidential elections, Donald Trump, said on Monday that Muslims should be blocked from entering the US "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
Trump's campaign team had cited poll data allegedly showing "hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population."
"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," Trump said.
Trump's statements were condemned by several users on Twitter. Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley called the Republican a "fascist demagogue" in his tweet.
The Republican has been increasingly targeting Muslims in his speeches after the deadly Paris attacks and after last week's mass shooting in San Bernardino, where a Muslim couple opened fire at a Christmas gathering, killing 14 and wounding 21 others.
mg/jr (Reuters, AFP)