Justice

Donald Trump Just Took Islamophobia to a Near Unimaginable Level

December 7th 2015

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took Islamophobia to a new level on Monday. In a press release, the GOP front-runner 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."

RELATED: Donald Trump Just Embarrassed Himself With Another Bigoted Statement on Muslims

While Trump has made controversial proposals concerning Muslims and Mexican immigration in the past, this statement appears to signal an escalation in the candidate's anti-Islamic agenda.

Trump cited a series of polls, including one from the Pew Research Center, which reportedly shows that "there is great hatred toward Americans by large segments of the Muslim population." A representative for Pew told ATTN: that "Trump does not specify a data point" in his statement, "so we can’t identify the report that he may be referencing." 

Trump also notes that a survey from the Center for American Policy, a conservative, Tea Party-leaning think tank, found that roughly 25 percent of respondents considered violence toward Americans justified "as part of the global jihad." But researchers at Georgetown University released a report in June, emphasizing that the CAP survey "should not be taken seriously."

The Georgetown report continues:

"It comes from an organization with a history of producing dubious claims and 'studies' about the threat of shariah, and was administered using an unreliable methodology. Its proponents seize upon its shoddy findings, exaggerating and misrepresenting them to American audiences, and falsely claim that the survey data represents the views of Muslims nationwide."

"Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is behind comprehension," Trump said in the statement. "Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. 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."

The candidate has previously come under fire for making controversial statements about Mexican immigrants; Trump has proposed erecting a massive wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, for example.

RELATED: Donald Trump Just Failed to Reject a Very Hateful Question About Muslims

But in the aftermath of the San Bernardino mass shooting, which left 14 people dead last week, Trump seems to have pivoted his political focus to Islamic extremism. He live-Tweeted President Barack Obama's rare, Oval Office address on the threat of terrorism at home and abroad on Sunday, suggesting that the president was weak on foreign policy.

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