TRUMP TO STUDY MUSLIM BAN
Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during his rally at the Charleston Civic Center, May 5, in Charleston, West Virginia. Trump became the Republican presumptive nominee following his landslide win in indiana. (Mark Lyons | Getty Images)
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump said, May 11, that he may set up a counter-terrorism commission to study his immigration policies and his controversial proposal to ban foreign Muslims from entering the U.S. until America’s security has been assured, writes Lalit K. Jha. (@Siliconeer, #Siliconeer, #2016USPresidentialRace, #HillaryClinton, #DonaldTrump, #Trump)
“I’m thinking about setting up a commission, perhaps headed by Rudy Giuliani, to take a very serious look at this problem. But this is a worldwide problem. And we have to be smart,” Trump told Fox News.
Giuliani, who was New York’s Mayor from 1994 to 2001, has called Trump’s idea of a Muslim ban unconstitutional. He said that a ban on Muslims would violate the Constitution and there can be no religious test on who is allowed into the country.
The 69-year-old real-estate tycoon said the commission would examine his Muslim ban call, his proposal to deport anyone in the U.S. illegally and the question of letting in Syrian refugees.
Trump did not elaborate on the proposal whether this would happen if he wins the U.S. presidential race or during his campaign.
Trump’s call to deny entry to foreign Muslims until America’s security has been assured is a centerpiece of his presidential campaign.
In the interview, Trump reaffirmed he would ban entry of Muslims albeit temporarily into the U.S. if he is voted to power.
“Well, we have a ban. There are obviously some very bad things going on. And we’re going to figure out what’s going on and we’re going to be very, very careful. We are allowing Syrians to come in here. We have no idea who they are, we have no paperwork. There’s no documentation. They’re pouring into the country, our country by the thousands,” he said.
“You see what’s happening in Germany. It’s a mess. You look at Sweden and some of these other countries that are taking them and it’s a total mess. And I want to be very, very careful. So I’m going to be extremely vigilant and careful,” he said.
Trump said it would be a temporary ban and went on to criticize President Barack Obama for not using the term “radical Islamic terrorism” after the attacks in France and California last year.
“We have a president that won’t even use the term radical Islamic terrorism. He won’t even use the term,” he said.
“He refuses to say the term, even after Paris where 130 people were killed or San Bernardino or any other place. Our president refuses to discuss the term. It’s a real problem.
Not only here, but throughout the world. It’s a real problem.
So we’ll figure it out, and we will get it going. But we have to be extremely careful,” Trump said.