Although Trump aides said the Republican presidential front-runner meant to say he wants to create a terrorist watch list as opposed to registering Muslims, Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush quickly pounced, with Bush telling CNBC “you talk about closing mosques, you talk about registering people – that’s just wrong”.
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Matt David, spokesman for the group planning the attack, a Super PAC called New Day for America, which is supporting Ohio Governor John Kasich’s presidential bid, said 10 new donors had pledged money in the two days since Politico reported Thursday evening the group’s plans to attack Trump in New Hampshire.
In the new CBS/YouGov poll, Cruz has pushed past Carson to take 21 percent of the vote, to Carson’s 19, while Donald Trump – who had lost his lead to Carson in poll after poll last month in Iowa – now has a significant lead, earning the support of 30 percent of likely Republican voters.
On ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”, the Republican frontrunner called for surveillance of USA mosques and the creation of a database of Syrian refugees in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris.
The billionaire real estate mogul also told the reporter that Muslims would “have to be” registered and said that the registration process could occur at “different places. But it’s all about management”.
Trump also said he does not want to close any mosques in the United States but he does want to put them under surveillance.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the response of Muslim-Americans on September 11 was disgust.
“I want surveillance of certain mosques, OK?” he said. Almost four dozen house democrats joining republicans voting to stop admitting Syrian refugees until the government can certify they pose no threat. I want a database for the refugees that – if they come into the country.
And a few of his Republican rivals did condemn his comments. “She’s not a strong enough person to be President”, Trump said.
Civil liberties experts said a database for Muslims would be unconstitutional on several counts, while the libertarian Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro said the idea also violates basic privacy and liberty rights.
If the history of religious or racial violence teaches us anything, it is that such attacks against helpless minorities are always preceded by persistent media campaigns or unfavorable views expressed by those who shape public opinion – views that, if they don’t incite violence, makes them at least justifiable. “At a few point you have to ask yourself, is that the kind of country we are?” “I know because I wrote it”, he said of the council’s reaction, adding that if Mr. Trump had evidence of cheering, he should present it.
On ABC’s “This Week”, Trump was asked whether he rules out a database on all Muslims in the U.S. If I’m treated fairly, I’m fine.
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As for the controversial interrogation tactic known as waterboarding, a simulated drowning technique widely considered to be a form of torture, Trumps says he would reinstate it for terrorism suspects, noting that it “is peanuts compared to what they’re doing to us”.
