When Donald Trump pulled off a major upset and captured the presidency, his speech was relatively gracious compared to the Trump that America grew to know over the decades and — in a amplified capacity — the past sixteen months. There was little to indicate the bombastic behavior that functions as a Trump calling card. Now, something else unexpected has occurred, for Trump’s much touted, proposed Muslim ban statement has completely evaporated from his campaign website.
The statement, which we discussed on December 13, 2015 when he posted the screed, existed on a page that now defers to his site’s homepage. The statement cited erroneous data and contained no subtlety. That is, no one could have mistaken the language as anything other than a wide-reaching ban on Muslims:
Donald J. Trump is 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. According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Most recently, a poll from the Center for Security Policy released data showing “25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad” and 51% of those polled, “agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah.” Shariah authorizes such atrocities as murder against non-believers who won’t convert, beheadings and more unthinkable acts that pose great harm to Americans, especially women.”
Well, the sleuths at ABC News must be monitoring Trump’s site like crazy because they figured out that the page utterly vanished. The proposed ban was a point of much criticism, and the fact that it disappeared at about the same time that Trump became president-elect seems suspect. The proposal may have been a gimmick all along, which makes one wonder what else Trump will soon disregard. The Wall, perhaps? Maybe Trump will turn into a moderate, which would be his ultimate troll move, on supporters, no less.
UPDATE – 11/11: The plan is back. Make up your mind, Trump.
(Via ABC News)