Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called on Monday for a "total and complete" ban on Muslims entering the United States, barring followers of the world's fastest-growing religion because he considers the faith rooted in hatred and violence.
The proposal - which was quickly denounced by other candidates from both parties - marks the latest escalation of the virulent anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric that has fueled his unlikely candidacy. It also came less than 24 hours after President Barack Obama urged tolerance in an Oval Office address, saying the fight against terrorists should not "be defined as a war between America and Islam."
But at a rally Monday night in South Carolina, Trump received a boisterous standing ovation as he shared the idea, telling the crowd that a ban is "common sense" and that his Muslim friends agree with him.
"We have no choice," he said to cheers. "We have no choice. We have no choice."
Party leaders have worried for months that Trump's divisive rhetoric could poison their party, even as it has allowed him to maintain a commanding lead of the divided GOP field since summer. Trump has broadly described illegal immigrants as violent criminals, called for the immediate deportation of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States and, at a recent rally, seemed to condone an assault on a Black Lives Matter protester.
Many legal scholars said such a plan would violate both U.S. and international law and would never be allowed by the courts, while leaders of Islamic groups called the idea outrageous.
"One has to wonder what Donald Trump will say next as he ramps up his anti-Muslim bigotry," said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Where is there left for him to go? Are we talking internment camps? Are we talking the final solution to the Muslim question? I feel like I'm back in the 1930s."
Trump's proposal came in a statement issued on Monday calling for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
He said in the statement that "it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension."
"Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," he continued. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life."
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