Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appeared on Fox News during Sean Hannity’s live broadcast from the Democratic National Convention Monday night. During the interview, which covered a wide breadth of topics, Trump clarified his position on banning Muslim people from entering the country.
“I’m talking about territories now,” Trump told the host. “People don’t want me to say Muslim. I prefer not saying it, frankly, myself. So we’re talking about territories.” This clarification echoes Trump’s Republican National Convention acceptance speech last Thursday, during which he told the crowd he would “immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism.”
Trump also addressed that change on Meet the Press on Sunday, assuring host Chuck Todd that the rhetorical adjustment was not a roll back, but rather an “expansion” of his promised Muslim ban. “I’m looking now at territories, because people were so upset when I used the word Muslim,” he said, promising to release a list of “compromised” territories over the next few weeks that may include countries such as Germany and France.
Trump also told Hannity that United States legislators who are pushing to allow refugees from Syria to come to America are “stupid.” He said, “Our leaders, people that do this, they’re stupid people. You look at Germany, they had a knife wielder yesterday who killed two women and just viciously and violently — came from Syria.”
In a statement on his campaign website in December, Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” He walked those sentiments back in May, stating that it was “just a suggestion.”
(Via Politico & Talking Points Memo)