Donald Trump stood by his proposal to prohibit Muslims from emigrating to, or visiting the U.S. during his campaign rally Monday night, telling supporters “we have no idea if they love or hate us.”
Just hours before the Republican presidential front-runner took the stage in Mount Pleasant, S.C., his campaign released a statement proposing an all-out ban on Muslims seeking to relocate or visit the U.S.
“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 in the statement.
Despite immediate backlash from his Republican rivals and a handful of religious freedom organizations, Trump doubled down on the controversial proposal, going so far as to read his campaign’s statement verbatim to the sea of supporters at his rally.
“We’re out of control; we have no idea who is coming into our country. We have no idea if they love or hate us,” Trump said Monday.
“I want ISIS to surrender,” he added.
The self-funded billionaire also assured the crowd that he would keep them safe from accusations of racial profiling if they witnessed something suspicious and reported it to law enforcement authorities.
“Don’t worry about profiling,” Trump said, citing revelations that a neighbor to the radical Islamic couple behind the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., declined to report suspicious activity to police due to concerns that he would be accused of profiling.
Trump also took jabs at President Obama, whose address to the nation on terror Trump live-tweeted Sunday evening.
“He didn’t know why he was there,” Trump said of Obama. “He refuses to use the term ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ He refuses to use the term. I don’t even know if he knows what the hell is going on.
At one point, Trump, who was interrupted twice during the rally by a female heckler who managed to re-enter the venue after being escorted out by security, asked the crowd whether they thought his latest proposal was “common sense.”
The crowd cheered loudly in favor.
