Politics

Obama Blasts Donald Trump for 'Dangerous' Message After Orlando Shooting

June 14th 2016

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama called out the Republican presidential candidate for his "dangerous" language in the hours following the attack at a gay nightclub that left 49 dead.

president-barack-obamaAP/Luong Thai Linh - apimages.com

Speaking to the National Security Council at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., he warned that Trump's proposed ban on Muslim immigration poses a great danger to America, according to Politico.

Obama also addressed Trump's criticism of the president for not using the term "radical Islam" to refer to terrorist acts.

“We are seeing how dangerous this kind of mindset and thinking can be," Obama said. "We are starting to see this kind of rhetoric and loose talk and sloppiness about who we are fighting, where this can lead us. We now have proposals from the presumptive Republican nominee of the United States, the Republican nominee, to bar all Muslims from immigrating into America.”

donald-trumpAP/Chris Carlson - apimages.com

Trump drew major criticism last year after he proposed a travel ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. Obama condemned the plan on Tuesday and called out the public's mistake in generalizing Muslims.

“Are we going to start treating all Muslim Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? Are we going to start discriminating against them because of their faith? We’ve heard these suggestions during the course of this campaign. Do Republican officials actually agree with this? That's not the America we want. It doesn’t reflect our democratic ideals."

Obama also said that Trump's rhetoric is only "fueling terrorists" by painting a narrative that the "West hates Muslims," something the president said only makes Muslim Americans fearful.

president-obamaThe White House - whitehouse.gov

"We have gone through moments in our history before when we acted out of fear and we came to regret it," Obama said.

"We have seen our government mistreat our fellow citizens, and it has been a shameful part of our history. This is a country founded on basic freedom including freedom of religion. We don't have religious tests here. Our founders, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, are clear about that. And if we ever abandon those values, we would not only make it easier to radicalize people here and around the world, but we would have betrayed the very things we are trying to protect.”

The president's remarks come in light of the shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, in which 49 people died and 53 more were injured. The gunman, Omar Mateen, was shot and killed by Orlando police officers after a three-hour standoff.

Share your opinion

Do you agree with Obama that Trump’s language can be dangerous?

No 5%Yes 95%