Trump calls for 'complete shutdown' on Muslims entering US

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump defended his decision Monday to call for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” touching off an outraged response from his rivals for the nomination and Muslim groups.
“We have no idea who is coming into our country, no idea if they like us or hate us,” Trump told supporters in South Carolina. “I wrote something today that is very salient…and probably not very politically correct. But I don’t care.”
Trump added that his proposal is “common sense” and “we have no choice”.  He warned the crowd that “we can be politically correct and stupid but it’s going to get worse and worse.”
The proposed ban would stand "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," his campaign said in a statement earlier Monday.
The statement added that Trump's proposal comes in response to the level of hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans.
It also comes five days after a radical Muslim couple killed 14 people and injured 21 at a Christmas party in San Bernardino, Calif.
“Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life,” Trump said in a statement.
A recent Fox News poll found that both a majority of Democrats and Republicans believe at least one Syrian refugee coming into the U.S. will likely carry out an attack.
Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told the Associated Press that Trump's proposed ban would apply to "everybody," including Muslims seeking immigration visas as well as tourists seeking to enter the country.
Trump did not respond to questions about whether any ban would also include Muslims who are U.S. citizens and travel outside the country - or how a determination of someone's religion might be made by customs and border officials.
In response to a request for additional detail, Trump said via a campaign spokeswoman: "Because I am so politically correct, I would never be the one to say. You figure it out!"
Meanwhile, his rivals for the Republican nomination wasted no time weighing in.
"Donald Trump is unhinged," Jeb Bush said via Twitter. "His `policy' proposals are not serious."
Carly Fiorina said, "Trump's overreaction is as dangerous as President Obama's under-reaction."
John Kasich slammed Trump's "outrageous divisiveness," while a more measured Ted Cruz, who has always been cautious about upsetting Trump's supporters, said, "Well, that is not my policy."
Southern Baptists denounced Trump's comment.
“Anyone who cares an iota about religious liberty should denounce this reckless, demagogic rhetoric," said Ethics and Religious Liberty Commision President Russell Moore. "Make no mistake. A government that can shut down mosques simply because they are mosques can shut down Bible studies because they are Bible studies."
Muslim-American groups also expressed their outrage.
“Mr. Trump's anti-Muslim immigration proposal is disappointing, unconstitutional, and empowers extremist ideology. It has no place in civilized American discourse,” Qasim Rashid, national spokesperson for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA told FoxNews.com.
"This type of knee jerk, if not demagogic policy stance, is unmitigated surrender to the Islamist global narrative that they, ISIS, and all the Islamist theocrats of the world own what is and is not Islam and faithful Muslim," said Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
Trump's plan also drew criticism from the heads of the Republican Party in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first three states to vote in next year's presidential primaries.
New Hampshire GOP's chairwoman Jennifer Horn said the idea is "un-Republican. It is unconstitutional. And it is un-American," while South Carolina chairman Matt Moore said on Twitter, "As a conservative who truly cares about religious liberty, Donald Trump's bad idea and rhetoric send a shiver down my spine."
There are more than 5,800 servicemen and women on active U.S. military duty and in the reserves who self-identify as Muslim and could be assigned to serve overseas. Trump said in an interview Monday night on Fox News, "They'll come home." He added, "This does not apply to people living in the country, except that we have to vigilant."
It was also unclear whether Trump's ban would apply to Muslim allies in the fight against Islamic State militants. Ari Fleischer, a former aide to Republican President George W. Bush, tweeted, "Under Trump, the King Abdullah of Jordan, who is fighting ISIS, won't be allowed in the US to talk about how to fight ISIS."
But at Trump's rally in South Carolina, the proposed ban struck supporter Shelley Choquette as reasonable, because "it's not going to be forever. I think everybody needs to be checked."
Religion can factor into immigration decisions, but that typically happens when people are fleeing religious persecution. People of a particular religion may get favorable treatment by the United States, as when Russian Jews sought to leave the Soviet Union.
In the late 1800s, Congress passed legislation broadly aimed at halting Chinese immigration. But said Leti Volpp, a University of California expert on immigration law, "there is no precedent for a religious litmus test for admitting immigrants into the United States."
"Excluding almost a quarter of the world's population from setting foot in the United States based solely upon their religious identity would never pass constitutional muster," Volpp said.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest accused Trump of playing on people's fears and trying to tap into "a darker side, a darker element" of American society.
From the Democratic presidential campaign, Bernie Sanders said "Trump and others want us to hate all Muslims" and Hillary Clinton called the proposal "reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive."
On Capitol Hill, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said, "It's just foolish."
But will it hurt Trump in the campaign? "I have no idea," McCain said. "I thought long ago that things he said would hurt his prospects, and he continues to go up."

Obama isis Cartoon

Exclusive: New Jeb Bush Super PAC ad uses Paris, San Bernardino images

Right to Rise USA, the pro-Jeb Bush super PAC will be airing a new TV ad in early voting states and the battleground state of Ohio that uses images from the Paris & San Bernardino attacks to depict President Obama as a weak president on terrorism and the former two-term Florida governor as a “tested and proven leader who won’t try to contain ISIS.” 
It is the first campaign ad to utilize the images of both Paris and San Bernardino.
“A horrific terror attack in Paris then a brutal act of terror here at home.” The 30 second ad starts off as it flashes images from both locations.
“It is time for tested and proven leader who won’t try to contain ISIS,” the announcer continues as Obama flashes on the screen.
Bush has been increasing his focus on national security and anti-terrorism positions and has been severely critical of the president’s position on threats from ISIS and other terrorist organizations.
"The threat of global terrorism is the threat for our country. And every day that the caliphate exists is another day that they win and they can recruit terrorists, “ Bush said to Special Report anchor Bret Baier on Thursday night.

Exclusive: Miami billionaire spearheads anti-Trump newspaper ads

A leaked memo by the National Republican Senatorial Committee argued earlier this week that GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump should be emulated instead of condemned, but one billionaire donor isn’t taking that route.

Mike Fernandez, a Miami health care magnate

Mike Fernandez, a Miami health care magnate and Jeb Bush donor, ran a full-page ad in McClatchy’s Miami Herald Sunday and will run the same ad on Dec. 14 in Des Moines and Las Vegas slamming Trump and calling on voters to “'see the "hater' for what he is-- insecure, narcissistic BULLYionaire with a hunger to be adored.”
Fox News exclusively obtained the ad late Saturday in which Fernandez likens Trump to “despotic leaders" like Mussolini, Hitler and Peron.
"Mr. Trump portrays himself as someone who can do no wrong, unblemished by almost any human faults--indeed, the paragon of smarted and greatest. But his worst and actions tells who is who he really is-- a destroyer,” Fernandez adds.
Fernandez, a noted Bush donor, didn’t mention him in the ad or any other candidate from either side of the aisle. Fernandez told the Miami Herald Friday he didn’t run his plan by the Bush campaign, but heard an earful when they learned of his plan.
Fernandez is the founder of MBF Healthcare Partners. He immigrated from Cuba in 1964 when he was 12. He donated $3 million to the former Florida governor earlier this year.
"In my home, my county, I cannot stand by and accept demagoguery that would separate us-rich vs. poor, minority vs. Majority, red vs. Blue. Our nation stands today more divided than ever,” Fernandez says.
"Surely, we are better people than to agree with this man's sound bites and raucous rallies and think the worst in U.S. is right for this country."

Clinton says term 'radical Islam' an injustice to vast majority of Muslims

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton declined Sunday to say that a “radical” form of Islam is behind terror attacks connected to the Islamic State and other such attacks committed by fringe members of the Muslim religion.
“I don't want to do that because, No. 1, it doesn't do justice to the vast numbers of Muslims in our own country and around the world who are peaceful people,” she told ABC’s “This Week.”
Clinton spoke four days after Muslim husband-wife couple Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik shot and killed 14 people and wounded dozens of others at an office complex in San Bernardino, Calif.
Her comments are among the latest in an intense debate on whether to call Muslims who commit terror strikes such as the recent ones in California and Paris and the one on Sept. 11, 2001, “radical Islamists” or “Islamic extremists.”
President Obama, set to make an Oval Office address to the America public Sunday night about domestic terror, has also been criticized for not using either term. He has instead used the term “violent extremists,” using an argument similar to Clinton’s.
On the 2016 presidential campaign trail, leading GOP candidate Donald Trump recently called out Obama on the issue.
“Radical Islamic terrorism,” Trump said at an event Friday. “We have a president that refuses to use the term. …There's something going on with him that we don't know about."
On Sunday, Clinton also defended saying publicly, as secretary of state, that the Benghazi terror attacks were inspired by an anti-Islamic video, blaming “the fog of war.”
Recently released emails from Clinton reveal intelligence suggested the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, were terror related.
Other emails indicate Clinton knew the attacks were terror related, then told the American public otherwise.
Four Americans were killed in the attacks.
Clinton acknowledged Sunday that the San Bernardino massacre was a “terrorist attack” and predicted that Obama will announce an "intensification" of existing strategy to fight ISIS, a move she supports.
“Nobody is arguing with that,” she said.
Still, Clinton said the recent massacre, in which the couple appeared to have used legally purchased assault-style rifles, underscores the need for tighter gun control.
“We have to take account … our gun laws and the easy access to those guns by people who shouldn't get them," she said.
She cited the mentally ill, fugitives, felons and Congress “continuing to refuse to prohibit people on the ‘no-fly’ list from getting guns, which include a lot of domestic and international terrorists.”
As Clinton has in the past, she also called for comprehensive background checks for potential gun buyers.
“We need to close the gun show loophole, close the online loophole … and end the liability for gun sellers,” she said.

Intelligence report commissioned by White House says ISIS not contained

A new intelligence report commissioned by the White House says that the ISIS terror group will grow in numbers and territory unless it suffers significant losses in Iraq and Syria.
The findings sharply contradict previous statements by President Obama and other White House officials that ISIS has been "contained" by a program of U.S.-led airstrikes and the deployment of approximately 3,500 U.S. forces to train and otherwise aid moderate Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters.
On Sunday, a U.S. official told Fox News that ISIS has been able to effectively recruit and attract affiliates despite losses on the ground, and has now supplanted Al Qaeda as the primary global jihadist threat.The official said that going forward, the entirety of the ISIS threat must be addressed, and the group's main base of operations in Syria must be “degraded.”
The findings were first reported by The Daily Beast, which said the White House asked for the assessment prior to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, in which ISIS militants killed 130 people in a series of coordinated shootings and suicide bombings.
In response to the report, The Daily Beast said President Obama had directed Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford to come up with new strategies against ISIS.
One recommendation, announced by Carter Tuesday, is a special operations cell with the ability to capture senior ISIS leaders in the hope of finding out more about their networks.
However, the Daily Beast reported that Carter's announcement took military planners by surprise, since they had yet to finalize important details, including the rules of engagement under which such raids would be carried out.
The eight-page report was compiled by a team of analysts from the CIA, NSA, and other agencies, the website reported.
"This intel report didn't tell us anything we didn't already know," an official told The Daily Beast. "It was lots of great charts showing countries highlighted across the globe, with some groups having pledged allegiance to ISIS and others leaning towards it."
The report also described how the terrorist group with aspirations of founding an extremist Islamic caliphate already has a network of groups that have pledged allegiance or are vying for membership in a dozen countries.

K-1 Visa Cartoon

Before the Fact: FOX News Poll: Majorities say call it 'radical Islam,' oppose Syrian refugees

Most American voters believe Islamic terrorists will strike the U.S. soon.  A Fox News national poll released Sunday also finds Democrats and Republicans united against President Obama’s plan to accept Syrian refugees -- as most voters think at least one will be a terrorist who will launch a successful attack here. 
Here are five findings on the war against terrorism.  Voters feel:
-- The U.S. is at war with radical Islam, and Democrats who refuse to call the enemy by that name are doing the wrong thing.
-- Obama has not fought the war against ISIS aggressively enough, and that war is going badly.
-- Terrorism is now the top problem facing the country, and an attack is likely soon.
-- Bringing Syrian refugees into the U.S. is a bad idea, and a religious test would be shameful.
-- Closing Gitmo is wrong, and Obama should not side step Congress to do so.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
Here are the details behind those findings:
Today 66 percent consider the country “at war” with radical Islam, up from 56 percent in January.
The poll asks about Democratic presidential candidates rejecting terms like radical Islam and Islamic terrorists to describe those who committed the Paris attacks. Fifty-six percent think they are doing the wrong thing by refusing to identify clearly the nature of the threat. Thirty-three percent feel Democrats are doing the right thing by being careful not to blame Muslim ideology.
More than 6 in 10 say the U.S. fight against ISIS is going badly (63 percent).  At the same time, voters continue to oppose sending a “significant” number of U.S. ground troops to fight the extremists (42 percent favor vs. 51 percent oppose).  However, opposition is decreasing; it was 37 percent in favor vs. 57 percent opposed in June.
While 26 percent think the actions of the Obama administration have been “about right” in trying to stop ISIS, most -- 65 percent -- say Obama hasn’t been aggressive enough. That includes 39 percent of Democrats, 61 percent of independents and 91 percent of Republicans.
The current situation has pushed the president’s job rating to a low point for the year. Forty percent of voters approve of the job Obama is doing, while 54 percent disapprove. It was 45-50 percent earlier this month. Some of the decline comes from Democrats: 78 percent approve now, down from 84 percent (Nov. 1-3, 2015).  Overall, Obama’s worst rating was 38 approve vs. 56 disapprove in September 2014.
In the wake of the Paris attacks, terrorism now tops the economy as the most important issue facing the country.  Twenty-four percent of voters say terrorism, up from 11 percent in August.  Currently 21 percent say the economy is the top issue, down from 30 percent this summer.  There’s a substantial gap before foreign policy (7 percent), health care (7 percent), immigration (7 percent) and the deficit (5 percent) are mentioned.  Only three percent say climate change is the priority.
Fifty-six percent think it is “very” likely Islamic terrorists will try to attack the United States soon, up from 50 percent who felt that way in January.
Two-thirds of voters -- and nearly half of Democrats -- oppose the administration’s plan for the U.S. to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year, and 77 percent think it’s likely at least one of those coming in through this process will be a terrorist who will “succeed in carrying out an attack on U.S. soil.”
Obama says it’s shameful to have a religious test for bringing Syrian refugees into the country -- and 64 percent agree with him. Fewer than one in four says it makes sense to only allow Syrian refugees who are Christian to come to the U.S. (23 percent).

Views by Party
Forty-nine percent of Democrats join majorities of independents (67 percent) and Republicans (86 percent) in opposing Obama’s plan to bring Syrian refugees into the U.S.
By an overwhelming 91-8 percent margin, Republicans think it’s likely a terrorist will sneak in as a refugee and carry out an attack.  Democrats agree that’s a likely scenario -- just by a smaller 62-35 percent margin.
Republicans (37 percent) are nearly four times as likely as Democrats (10 percent) to think a religious test for Syrian refugees makes sense.  Even so, a plurality of Republicans (49 percent) agrees with the large majority of Democrats (81 percent) who feel it’s a shameful idea.

Guantanamo Bay
Two days after the Paris attacks, the White House announced the transfer of five Guantanamo Bay detainees to the government of the United Arab Emirates.  That’s part of the Obama administration’s ongoing plan to close the facility -- a plan that by a two-to-one margin voters think is the wrong course of action (59-31 percent).
Even more voters, 73 percent, oppose Obama bypassing Congress to close the detention center by executive action. That’s widely seen as the only way he could close Gitmo given lawmakers’ opposition.
While a plurality of Democrats thinks closing Gitmo is the right thing to do (48 percent), a slim majority opposes Obama going around Congress to do it (53 percent).
Most say they would not be willing to have Gitmo detainees moved to a prison in their state (68 percent), however, nearly 3 in 10 say they would be (28 percent).
The Fox News poll is based on live telephone interviews (landline and cellphone) with 1,016 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from Nov. 16-19, 2015. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.