At Monday evening’s CNN Democratic Town Hall, Hillary Clinton rallied her troops one more time before the Iowa caucus. In doing so, she denounced certain GOP members’ statements against Muslims and, in particular, she addressed Donald Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Clinton did all of this during one answer to an American Muslim woman, Air Force veteran Erum Tariq-Munir.
Tariq-Munir, a mother of three children, expressed concern for growing Islamophobia and its potential effects on citizens’ constitutional rights. The veteran wanted to know how Clinton would avoid sidelining any group within the United States and posed the following question: “How can I make sure this country is the best place on Earth to raise my family?” Clinton first thanked Tariq-Munir for her military service and addressed the GOP frontrunner’s marginalizing statements as “one of the most distressing aspects” of this presidential race. Clinton criticized Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric as harmful:
“I have called him out continuously about that. It’s not only shameful and contrary to our values to say that people of a certain religion should never come to this country or to claim that there are no real people of the Muslim faith who share our values. And to have the kind of dismissive and insulting approach, it’s not only shameful and offensive, which it is, I think it’s dangerous.”
Clinton didn’t stop at mere labels. She dug deeper into the generational effects of such rhetoric, which could have lasting effects, regardless of whether or not Trump takes the White House:
“It’s dangerous because American Muslims deserve better, and now their children and they are the target of Islamophobia, of threats. I’ve met a number of parents who have said their children are afraid to go to school because they’re worried about how they will be treated. And we cannot tolerate this. And we must stand up and say every person in this country deserves to be treated with respect and we must stand up against the bullying.”
Clinton further made the point that Trump, who considers himself to be a prime negotiator, will have one heck of a time communicating with Muslim nations (and cooperating to take down ISIS) when he spends a great deal of “time insulting their religion!” This isn’t the first time Clinton has spoken out against Trump. In December, she admitted being no longer amused by him because he’s “playing right into the hands of the terrorists” by providing an easy propaganda script. Earlier this month, that statement came true when Trump was featured in an Al-Qaeda recruitment video.
Now Clinton is bringing her point full circle with a town hall answer laced with emotion. We’ll see whether this speech has a beneficial effect for her in the Iowa caucus.