'Where does this stop?' Obama blasts proposed Muslim ban following Orlando attack
"Where does this stop?"
President Barack Obama asked the question during a speech from Washington, D.C. on Thursday that was billed as an update on the fight against ISIS but turned into a speech about the future of the United States.
Obama forcefully critiqued the heated rhetoric targeting immigrants and Muslims in the wake of the killing of 49 people at a gay nightclub on Sunday by Omar Mateen, an American Muslim of Afghan descent. In particular, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has reiterated his calls for a ban on Muslim immigrants coming to the United States and suggested that the American Muslim community has been complicit in the violence.
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“If we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists’ work for them," Obama said. Later, he added, “We’ve seen this government mistreat our fellow citizens, and it’s been a shameful part of our history.”
The president also trashed the notion that giving ISIS fighters the label "radical Islamists" would do anything to stop them, referring to Trump's assertions that refusing to use the term was a type of capitulation.
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“If there’s anyone who thinks we’re confused about who our enemies are…that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists we’ve taken off the battlefield," Obama said.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton -- who recently said she would use the term "radical Islamism" -- joined Obama's denouncement of Trump via Twitter.
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The shift in tone, coming soon after Obama's formal endorsement of Clinton's candidacy, suggests that the White House is prepared to push for the likely Democratic nominee more forcefully than they have so far.
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Topics Donald Trump Elections Hillary Clinton
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
