Trump shrugs off outrage over Muslim-ban proposal

Associated Press

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call to block Muslims from entering the United States is being met with a chorus of near-universal condemnation from across the country and around the globe.

From the halls of Congress to 10 Downing St., Trump’s statement Monday advocating a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” was blasted as bigoted, unconstitutional and potentially dangerous for American interests abroad.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, breaking the custom of British leaders not commenting on U.S. presidential contenders, slammed it as “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong.” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon denounced “any kind of rhetoric that relies on Islamophobia, xenophobia, any other appeal to hate any groups.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement in support of religious freedom.

Even “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling weighed in, decrying Trump on Twitter as worse than her fictional villain Lord Voldemort.

“This is not conservatism,” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters after a closed-door GOP caucus meeting. “What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, it’s not what this country stands for.”

Trump’s campaign has been marked by a pattern of inflammatory statements, dating back to rhetoric that some Mexican immigrants who entered the country illegally are drug smugglers and rapists – but even that didn’t evoke the same widespread level of contempt.

The billionaire businessman and former reality- television star has maintained his lead in early opinion surveys, despite the controversies, vexing his Republican rivals and alarming a GOP establishment in panic over the damage they fear he’s doing to a deeply divided party.

Trump, who appears to revel in the attention, didn’t back down from his proposal Tuesday, saying that banning Muslims “until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on” is warranted after last month’s attacks by Muslim extremists in Paris and last week’s shootings in San Bernardino, Calif.

“Somebody in this country has to say what’s right,” Trump said in an interview with ABC taped Tuesday. “It’s short-term. Let our country get its act together.”

Trump’s proposed ban would apply to immigrants and visitors alike, a sweeping prohibition affecting adherents of a religion practiced by more than a billion people worldwide. Trump clarified in a round of television interviews Tuesday that his proposed ban would not apply to American citizens traveling abroad and would allow exemptions for certain people, including the leaders of Middle Eastern countries and athletes for certain sporting events.

However, not specified in his list of exemptions, for example, are Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai and the four civil society groups that led Tunisia’s transition to democracy – all Muslim Nobel Peace Prize winners.