Donald Trump calls for ban on Muslims entering US

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump today called for "a total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the US following the California massacre, the most divisive remarks yet during his presidential campaign drawing swift condemnation including from his rivals.
According to a statement issued by his campaign yesterday, Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
His stunning provocative remarks come just a day after Barack Obama called for rejecting religious tests for admission into the US, and Trump had joined leading Republican presidential candidates in lashing out at the President for not identifying radical Islam as the main threat.

The 69-year-old business tycoon-turned-White House aspirant's comments are perhaps the most dramatic yet by a presidential candidate to last week's shooting spree in California by a married Pakistani couple who the FBI said had been "radicalised for some time".
"We have no choice," Trump said repeating his pledge at a rally in South Carolina hours later to loud cheers, warning of more 9/11-style attacks if stern measures were not taken.
The campaign said that according to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.

Most recently, a poll from the Centre for Security Policy released data showing "25 per cent of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad" and 51 per cent of those polled, "agreed" that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah.

"Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," said Trump who was denounced after suggesting that some mosques should be closed and Muslims in the US monitored.
"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 was immediately slammed by other presidential candidates, with top Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton denouncing Trump's statement as "reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive".

"You don't get it. This makes us less safe," she tweeted.
Condemning Trump's statement, the Council on American- Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it has documented a wave of abuse, vandalism and acts of discrimination in the last month.
"It is reckless and simply un-American. Donald Trump sounds more like a leader of a lynch mob than a great nation like ours," CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said.
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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, also a Republican presidential candidate, said: "You do not need to be banning Muslims from the country. That's, in my view, that's a ridiculous position and one that won't even be productive."

Leading Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders criticised Trump for his statement, saying: "Demagogues throughout our history have attempted to divide us based on race, gender, sexual orientation or country of origin.
"Now, Trump and others want us to hate all Muslims. The United States is a great nation when we stand together. We are a weak nation when we allow racism and xenophobia to divide us."
Martin O'Malley, another Democratic candidate, said the latest statement from Trump shows that he is running for president "as a fascist demagogue".
Trump, however, stood by his statement, even as he was blasted by his political opponents and the media.

"The mainstream media wants to surrender constitutional rights -- I believe ISIS needs to surrender!" he tweeted.
At the campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump acknowledged that his statement on Muslims might not be "politically correct" but said he "does not care".
"We have no idea who is coming into our country, no idea if they like us or hate us. I wrote something today that is very salient and probably not very politically correct. But I don't care," he said.
In an interview to Fox News, Trump said his policy does not apply to Muslim Americans.