Trump: The US should seriously consider profiling Muslims
by Joseph
Earnest June 20, 2016
Newscast Media NEW
YORK—Donald Trump, the presumptive U.S. presidential nominee for the
Republican Party, says the United States should "seriously" consider
profiling Muslims in the fight against terrorism.
The call is the latest in string of statements Trump has made that have
attracted wide criticism, both for their potential
unconstitutionality but also for their potential to alienate large
numbers of voters in the November general election.
Speaking June 19 on the current-affairs TV show Face The Nation, Trump
argued that other countries like France already use profiling as a
law-enforcement tool and "it's not the worst thing to do."
"I hate the concept of profiling, but we have to start using common sense,” he said.
In the United States, civil libertarians have called the practice discriminatory.
Trump made the comments in a discussion about Omar Mateen, the gunman
who killed 49 people at a nightclub in Florida earlier this month.
Mateen was Muslim.
In the past, Trump has said if elected president in November he
"respectfully" would place mosques under surveillance. He's also
proposed a temporary ban on foreign Muslims from entering the United
States.
On Face The Nation, Trump was asked point-blank by the host if he was talking about increasing profiling of Muslims in America.
"Well, I think profiling is something that we're going to have to start thinking about as a country," he said.
He asserted that Israel practices racial profiling and that France also places mosques under surveillance.
"They're doing it in France. In fact, in some instances, they're closing
down mosques. People don't want to talk about it. People aren't talking
about it. But look at what they're doing in France. They're actually
closing down mosques," he said.
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