Donald Trump Rejects Criticism of His Plan to Ban Muslims: “I Don’t Care”

Richard Ellis/ZUMA

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Donald Trump has three words for critics of his newly announced plan to bar Muslims from entering the United States: “I don’t care.”

That’s what the Republican presidential frontrunner told a crowd of supporters in South Carolina on Monday night, saying that while his proposal may not be “politically correct,” Americans need a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States while we figure out what the hell is going on.”

Trump’s announcement comes on the heels of President Barack Obama’s address to the nation on Sunday, which sought to both reassure Americans that his terrorism strategy would ultimately succeed, and condemn anti-Muslim behavior in the aftermath of the San Bernardino shooting last week.

“When we travel down that road, we lose,” he said. “Freedom is more powerful than fear.”

Ignoring the president’s exhortations, Trump emailed his supporters on Monday with the announcement of his proposal to block Muslim entry into the country. The ban has since drawn sharp condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats:

By Tuesday morning, multiple news networks scrambled to talk to Trump about this plan. Speaking on Morning Joe, Trump defended his proposal by praising President Franklin Roosevelt’s labeling of Germans, Japanese, and Italians as “enemy aliens” during World War II. He did, however, refrain from endorsing internment camps.

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