CAIR Requests Apology from Trump for “Islam Hates Us” Comment
- By C Barnett --
- 14 Mar 2016 --
Trump is under fire after sweeping “Islam Hates Us” statement on CNN.
Anderson Cooper, the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°, asked presidential frontrunner Donald Trump during an interview whether he believes that Islam is at war with the Western countries. Trump responded by saying that he thinks that Islam hates Western countries. He said that there is a tremendous and unbelievable hatred, however, he is not sure whether the hatred is held by Islam itself or by Islam extremists. Trump said that they have to get to the bottom of the issue. The interview was aired last Wednesday night.
CAIR Requests Apology from Trump for “Islam Hates Us” Comment[/tweetthis]
Following the interview, CAIR (Council on American–Islamic Relations), the biggest Muslim advocacy group in the United States, castigated Trump's comments and demanded that Donald Trump apologize for his anti-Muslim remarks. Nihad Awad, the national executive director of CAIR, stated that Trump's remarks are beneath that of a true leader and that sentiments like this will only serve to further divide the nation and the world. Ibrahim Hooper, the National Communications Director of CAIR said that outrageous remarks like this are already endangering the lives of ordinary Muslim people staying in America. He said they are receiving a lot of reports with regards to threats and assaults against Muslim American citizens as a result of the anti-Muslim comments and remarks made by Donald Trump.
Replying to the question from Cooper with respect to whether the threat is from radical Islam or Islam itself, Trump said that it is very hard to distinguish between the two since it is extremely difficult to identify who is who. To emphasize his point, he cited the terrorist attack at the San Bernardino Regional Center, California and the Paris terrorist attack.
Hamas-linked CAIR demands Trump apologize for saying “Islam hates us” https://t.co/LSln8naDER
— Robert Spencer (@jihadwatchRS) March 11, 2016
From the beginning of the presidential campaign, Trump has been very firm on his views regarding Islam. From his comments on banning the Muslims from entering the United States to going after the family of terrorists, from bringing back waterboarding to his latest “Islam hates us” comment, Trump has always been in the middle of some form of controversy or the other. His recent anti-Muslim remarks even put his friend Rick Scott, Florida's Republican Governor, in a tight position when MSNBC asked him whether the Muslims in Florida hates the United States. He sidestepped the question by answering in general that Florida welcomes all.
CAIR is planning to challenge all the hatred growing towards Muslims with love and kindness.