President Barack Obama sought Wednesday to correct what he called a “hugely distorted impression” of Muslim-Americans as he made his first visit to a USA mosque.
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“We’ve heard inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim-Americans that has no place anywhere in our country”, said Obama in an address at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, Maryland.
“The first thing I want to say is two words that Muslim Americans don’t hear often enough”, Obama said. He says Muslims help keep America a strong, united country and noted that an attack on the Muslim faith in America is an “attack on all faiths”.
He decried the surge of threats and intimidation of American Muslim communities following the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif. past year.
In July, Trump said he was still not convinced Obama was born in the United States.
He said that while the “overwhelming majority” of Muslims reject terror, it is “undeniable” that others use their “perverted” interpretation of the religion to justify acts of horrific violence.
During-and after-the speech, the hashtag #MosqueVisit began trending on Twitter, with users voicing their opinions on the president’s controversial visit. “We must not give them legitimacy”, Obama said. He also pointed to previous presidents having expressed the importance of religious freedom, including Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
Obama was set to meet with Muslim community leaders at the Islamic Society of Baltimore and also deliver remarks shortly after noon.
Six days after the 2001 attacks in NY and Washington, then president George W. Bush visited the Islamic Center of Washington, declaring “Islam is peace”. Obama does not another election and this is his final year in office, so he’s stepping into a touchy issue and condemning Islamophobia. “We’re one American family”.
Harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric has been part of political campaigns for months, they said, and it was time for the president to make a stand.
“An attack on one’s faith is an attack on all our faiths”, Obama said as he mentioned recent attacks against Muslim community and also cited those of Sikh-Americans who looks like them. Along with his aides, Obama consistently groups much of the GOP field with the most outspoken proponent for religious screening, Trump.
“You’re part of America too”.
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Advocates applauded Obama’s decision to visit the mosque. “So I was not the first”, he said lightly as the audience laughed.
