WASHINGTON — (CNN) Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called Monday to block all Muslims from entering the United States.
Trump, who has previously called for surveillance against mosques and said he was open to establishing a database for all Muslims living in the U.S., made his latest controversial call in a news release. His call comes in the wake of a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by suspected ISIS sympathizers and the day after President Barack Obama asked the country not to “turn against one another” out of fear.
“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’s release. “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.”
The release pointed to an online poll from the controversial Center for Security Policy, which claimed that a quarter of Muslims living in the U.S. believe violence against Americans is justified as part of a global jihadist campaign. The Center for Security Policy is a think tank that has been accused of peddling conspiracy theories.
Trump’s call for a shutdown of Muslim immigration in the U.S. came hours before he was set to speak aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown, a World War II era ship parked near Charleston, South Carolina.
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