Trump wants 'complete' ban on Muslims entry into US

GOP presidential front runner Donald Trump calls for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims" entering the United States, following last week's mass shooting in California.

In a statement released by his campaign team on Monday, the Islamophobiac real estate mogul urged a halt on Muslims entrance to the United States "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

Trump is quoted in the statement as saying that a sizable number of Muslims harbor a "hatred toward Americans” and as a result should be kept out of the country, backing it with a poll by the Center for Security Policy.

"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… have no sense of reason or respect for human life."

Trump’s comments were made in the wake of last Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which left at least 14 people dead and 21 injured.

Playing on people's fears

The billionaire developer’s remarks unleashed quick condemnation, with White House spokesman Josh Earnest saying "It's entirely inconsistent with the kinds of values that were central to the founding of this country."

"I think what Mr. Trump is doing is something that he's been doing over the course of his entire campaign, which is... to play on people's fears in order to build support for his campaign. I think what he's doing; he's dividing America in a really cynical way,” he told MSNBC.

In condemnation of Trump’s remarks, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said, "Anti-Muslim hysteria has become a prominent feature in his campaign."

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton described the remarks as “reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive.”

“You don't get it. This makes us less safe,” said the Democratic front runner in a tweet.

Democratic presidential contender Martin O'Malley also said Trump's incendiary comment "removes all doubt: he is running for president as a fascist demagogue."

Even former Florida governor Jeb Bush, a fellow-Republican, dismissed Trump’s remarks as “not serious.”

"Donald Trump is unhinged," Bush tweeted. "His 'policy' proposals are not serious." 

Marco Rubio, another GOP candidate, also disagreed with the former reality TV star, saying, “His habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together.”

In an interview with CNN, US President Barack Obama's top foreign policy aide, Ben Rhodes, described Trump’s comments as  "totally contrary to our values as Americans,” adding, "We have, in our Bill of Rights, respect for the freedom of religion."

Rights group Amnesty international also responded to Trump, saying the anti-Muslim remarks are aimed at “winning support” prior to the 2016 presidential election.

"Trump's proposal caters to the worst instincts of ethnic and religious prejudice,” read a statement by Margaret Huang, Interim Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. “All political figures should reject the scapegoating and fear-mongering at play here. Bigotry should not masquerade as a counter-terrorism measure.”

"The recent surge in anti-Muslim and anti-refugee rhetoric by candidates has nothing to do with making Americans safer. It's about winning support by scaring the public,” it noted. "This type of hate-filled rhetoric has no place in a society committed to freedom from discrimination. Donald Trump's bigoted scapegoating of Muslims flies in the face of equality and religious freedom."

Donald Trump has adopted a more virulent tone against Muslims since the deadly Paris attacks on November 13 by Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

In a rare televised address from the Oval Office on Sunday, Obama said “ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death. And they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion Muslims around the world, including millions of patriotic Muslim-Americans who reject their hateful ideology.”

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