Trump not backing down on comments to ban Muslims

December 8, 2015 5:56 pm

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: news@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – GOP Frontrunner Donald Trump is not backing down from his comments to ban Muslims from entering America.

His inflammatory remarks come after recent mass shootings at home and abroad linked to Islamic extremists.

Now, he is facing bipartisan disapproval, but also resonating with his fan base of supporters, which is concerning for local Muslims.

Abdelnasser Hussein, principal of the Islamic School of Rhode Island, feels Trump is fear-mongering and relying on false stereotypes. “The problem happens when we only focus on individual incidents, which is very, very rare,” Hussein said, when talking how of the more than 300 mass shootings in America in 2015, only a small fraction were played out by Islamic extremists.

“Islam is the religion of peace,” he explained.

Hussein feels if the media takes religion out of the picture for Muslims, since extremists aren’t the proper representation anyways, then maybe stereotypes could be corrected. “We never say a Christian person did that, we never say the Jewish murderer did that. We [say the] first and last name and that’s it.”

As critics call out Trump and even link him to Adolf Hitler, he is gaining supporters. “He appeals to a certain constituency that is less concerned about the intelligence or the appropriateness of what he’s saying and more concerned about the fact that he’s voicing what they’re thinking,” explained Political Analyst Dr. Kay Israel of Rhode Island College.

Israel doesn’t see Trump backing down. “He’ll take a position, stick to it and that tends to be the way he wants to characterize himself as a politician – or not a politician.”

In the meantime, Trump has since said that he loves Muslims, he just wants to turn in the “bad ones.”