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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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. The deadline’s almost here. Please help us reach our $150k membership goal by May 31.

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