In his most striking announcement since declaring his candidacy for the Oval Office, real estate mogul Donald Trump said Monday that he is calling for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims into the U.S.
In his statement, Trump cited polls that show “there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.” The statement added that, “Shariah authorizes such atrocities as murder against non-believers who won't convert, beheadings and more unthinkable acts that pose great harm to Americans, especially women.”
However, Trump went on to say that he thinks people do not need polls to see that “the hatred is beyond comprehension.”
“Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine,” Trump continued. “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. If I win the election for President, we are going to Make America Great Again.”
Just hours after the announcement, Trump had a rally in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, where he doubled down on his statements earlier. Trump cited the San Bernardino shooting, in which 14 people were killed, as a reason for his latest declaration. He suggested that racial profiling was necessary and told the crowd, “Don’t worry about profiling.”
“I watched the next door neighbor saying 'oh well we didn't report them because we didn't want to racially profile' or 'we didn't want to profile'," Trump told the audience, reports NBC News. "Give me a break."
Trump’s rhetoric on the Muslim community has become increasingly tougher. Last month, he said he wasn’t against a database of American Muslims or forcing them to have special IDs. Another idea he was open to is surveilling mosques.
The announcement from Trump earned negative responses from his Republican competition. Jeb Bush called Trump “unhinged” Sen. Lindsey Graham said that Trump is putting the lives of Americans abroad in danger.
In addition, the comments from Trump came just a day after President Barack Obama called on Americans to “reject discrimination” of Muslims.
“It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit into this country,” Obama said Sunday night. “It’s our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be treated differently. Because when we travel down that road, we lose.”