Obama, Clinton slam Trump,
‘Where does this stop?’ visibly angry U.S. president says of billionaire’s language
WASHINGTON— U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday angrily denounced Donald Trump for his rhetoric in the aftermath of the shooting massacre in Orlando, saying the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was peddling a “dangerous” mindset that recalls the darkest periods in American history.
“We hear language that singles out immigrants and suggests entire religious communities are complicit in violence,” Obama said at the Treasury Department.
His statement came after a meeting with his national security team on the status of the U.S. effort against Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), which the president said had been dominated by discussion of the Orlando rampage.
“Where does this stop?” the president said of Trump’s approach, noting that Trump had proposed a ban on admitting Muslims into the U.S. and that the Orlando assailant, like the attackers in San Bernardino, Calif., and Fort Hood, Texas, was an American citizen.
“Are we going to start treating all Muslim-Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? Are we going to start discriminating against them because of their faith?” Obama said, his voice rising during his most direct condemnation yet of Trump. “Do Republican officials actually agree with this?”
The president, who has steadfastly refused to use the term “radical Islam” to describe Daesh, also bitterly rejected criticism from Trump and other Republicans about failing to use the phrase.
“If there’s anyone out there who thinks we’re confused about who our enemies are, that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we’ve taken off the battle- field,” Obama said.
“There’s no magic to the phrase ‘radical Islam.’ It’s a political talking point, it’s not a strategy.”
The president said he would not use the wording because he was unwilling to give Daesh the victory of ac- cepting their vision of themselves as leaders of a holy war between Islam and the West.
“If we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists’ work for them,” Obama said.
He is scheduled to travel to Orlando tomorrow to visit with the surviving victims and the families of those killed in the rampage on Sunday morning.
On Tuesday, he called on Congress to enact gun restrictions that they have so far resisted, including the resurrection of a ban on assault weapons and a measure that would bar the ability to purchase guns to those on no-fly lists because of suspected terrorist ties.
“Enough talking about being tough on terrorism,” Obama said. “Actually be tough on terrorism and stop making it as easy as possible for terrorists to buy assault weapons.”