WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump won’t be dissuaded from saying what he thinks simply because Islamic extremists use his words to recruit Muslims to their cause.
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“The world is talking about what I’ve said”.
He continues, “People that are on different persuasions than me right now John are saying, ‘You know maybe Trump isn’t wrong. And we have to solve that problem”, the former reality TV star added.
The video by Al-Qaeda’s Somali affiliate, Al-Shabab, was released online on Friday and includes footage of the real estate mogul demanding a ban on Muslim visitors to the US.
Trump’s comments were widely criticized by leaders around the world and in the USA, including by Hillary Clinton during a Democratic presidential debate in late December, during which she accused the billionaire of insulting Islam and stirring up religious fervor that would “recruit more radical jihadists”. “And you know what I have to say, there’s a problem”.
And you had to look hard for them, but there were a few signs of an effort to broaden his appeal, including an introductory video featuring his children and the absence of some of his more scatalogical rhetoric.
Greater Lowell received its first taste of the Donald Trump phenomenon – up close and personal – with his sold-out campaign appearance at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell Monday night. “They talk about all of his scandals”, Trump continued.
To illustrate the problem of illegal immigration, the ad shows figures swarming across a border into the US.
But Trump is shrugging off the video and its message.
“Let’s say Hillary’s president”, he mused at one point.
The video used a clip of Trump urging the United States to ban Muslims from entering the country to suggest that America discriminates against its Islamic population.
Al-Awlaki was U.S.-born and raised and revered as a powerful motivator in terrorist operations for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Appearing on Face the Nation on Sunday, Trump was questioned by host John Dickerson over a video released by an ISIS associated terrorist organization, Al Shabaab, that makes reference to Trump’s comments. The Obama administration has said that the USA is at war with terrorists and not Islam.
Trump’s comments were contrary to U.S. values and its national security interests, a statement from the White House said.
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While the Trump campaign estimated the crowd packed into the Paul Tsongas Center at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, was 9,500 people, but the facilities staff at the center said it was just short of 7,000.
