October 23, 2015

Donald Trump Wants to Close Mosques in America to Fight the ISIS (VIDEO) - @BarackObama

Donald Trump recently said he would “absolutely” use his power as president to order police to shut down mosques in the United States
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he'd be open to closing some mosques in the U.S. as part of an effort to fight terrorist group the Islamic State if he's elected to the White House.

During an interview on Fox Business, the billionaire businessman and former Atlantic City casino tycoon was asked if he would take steps similar to the British government, which recently introduced proposals that include revoking passports of people who travel to join ISIS and closing mosques that support extremism.

"I would do that, absolutely. I think it's great," Trump said, apparently in reference to the revoking of passports. "If you go out, you go fight for ISIS, you can't come back. Why can't you do it? You can do it here."

But host Stuart Varney asked if Trump also supports shuttering mosques, and whether he would legally be allowed to do so under the U.S. Constitution.

"I mean, we do have religious freedom," Varney said.

"Well I don't know," Trump replied. "I mean, I haven't heard about the closing of the mosque. It depends, if the mosque is, you know, loaded for bear — I don't know. You're going to have to certainly look at it."

"But I can tell you one thing," the real estate mogul added. "If somebody goes over and they want to fight for ISIS, they wouldn't be coming back."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement Wednesday condemning Trump's comments.

"Donald Trump's apparent willingness to close down American mosques that he deems 'extreme' is totally incompatible with the Constitution and our nation's cherished principles of religious freedom," Robert McCaw, CAIR's government affairs department manager, said in the statement. "The government should not be in the business of deciding what is acceptable free speech or religious belief. Donald Trump's off-the-cuff remarks are both un-American, and un-presidential."

U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) also criticized Trump's remarks Wednesday during an appearance on Fox News.

"Donald Trump is talking before he knows what he's talking about," said King, who has held a congressional hearing on "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community."

"I have been critical of people in the Muslim community, but the fact is you can't be shutting down mosques," the congressman said. 

King noted that the U.S. should have surveillance of mosques to find out "if there's activity in that mosque, where there's weapons, or if there's actual conspiracy going on."

"Then yes, you can take action," the congressman said. "But to be casually, the way Donald Trump seems to be talking about shutting down mosques? No."

How the U.S. deals with ISIS and radical Islam have been key topics of the crowded race for the 2016 Republican nomination.

Ben Carson, currently Trump's closest competitor in the polls, drew fire in September for saying he doesn't believe a Muslim should ever be elected president in America because Islam is not consistent with the U.S. Constitution. 

Trump said last month that Muslims are an "amazing people," but he stressed that that "radical Muslims" are a "very severe problem."

The businessman has also said that as president, he would send back Syrian refugees that have been accepted into the U.S. because the country can't be sure if ISIS is among them. 

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — another one of Trump's 14 rivals for the GOP nod —  made similar remarks during an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday night. Christie agreed with host Sean Hannity that it would be a "danger" to accept even a single Syrian refugee into the country.

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