President-elect Trump’s statement blaming radical Islamic terrorism for Monday’s rash of violence around the world may make things worse rather than help, a Maine senator said Tuesday.
Independent Sen. Angus King said on CNN Tuesday that Trump’s rush to blame jihadists for the assassination of a Russian diplomat and a truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 isn’t a smart move.
“We don’t really know the facts so it’s premature to come to a conclusion,” King said. “It appears the attack in Turkey on the Russian ambassador wasn’t a religious attack but was a political one, revenge for what’s going on in Aleppo.”
He added, “To say they’re both jihadist attacks just doesn’t appear to be correct.”
Trump released a statement following the attack on a Christmas market in western Berlin Monday evening calling for the eradication of the Islamic State.
“ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad,” Trump said in a statement. “These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners.”
King said rhetoric such as this can only harm the United States when it comes to fighting terrorists.
“The larger question … is do we really want to have a war of half the world against the other half of the world?” King asked.
“Most of the tips and the help that we get in dealing with these problems and thwarting these problems in the U.S. comes from people within the Muslim community. Do we really want to radicalize all of those people and make a world conflagration? I don’t think that’s in our best interest.”
