Jeb Bush and Chris Christie join Democrats in denouncing proposal – but Ted Cruz stops short of criticizing Republican frontrunner
Donald Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslim entry into the US, including that of tourists and Muslim Americans overseas, was met with an immediate and massive backlash from across the political spectrum.
Republican presidential candidates moved quickly to condemn their party’s frontrunner, with Jeb Bush describing Trump as “unhinged” and Lindsey Graham calling on everyone seeking the presidency to denounce the plan. Even former vice-president Dick Cheney, as the Republican establishment began to chime in, told a conservative radio host the call “goes against everything we believe in”.
“Donald Trump today took xenophobia and religious bigotry to a new level,” Graham told the Guardian in an interview shortly after Trump unveiled his proposal.
“His comments are hurting the war effort and putting our diplomats and soldiers serving in the Middle East at risk. The way to win this war is to reach to the vast majority of people in Islamic faith who reject Isil and provide them the capability to resist this ideology.”
The mayor of St Petersburg in Florida, Rick Kriseman, said he was banning Trump from the city “until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps”.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie said Trump’s comments reflected “a ridiculous position and one that won’t even be productive”.
“We do not need to resort to that type of activity nor should we,” Christie told conservative radio show host Michael Medved. “We need to cooperate with peaceful Muslim Americans who want to give us intelligence against those who are radicalized.”
“We do not need to resort to that type of activity nor should we,” Christie told conservative radio show host Michael Medved. “We need to cooperate with peaceful Muslim Americans who want to give us intelligence against those who are radicalized.”
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/07/donald-trump-muslim-ban-backlash-jeb-bush-chris-christie