Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, called Dec. 7 for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. At a public event, Trump read a statement issued by his campaign office: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.” While claiming to be the voice of the silent majority, Trump says there is great hatred toward Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.
Trump’s words generated a global outrage, including in his own Republican Party, where various key names asked him to withdraw from the race claiming that by uttering such words he had disqualified himself from the presidency. Yet, Trump neither retracted nor apologized for his statement.