White House: Trump Muslim comments ‘disqualify’ him from presidency
Administration brutally condemns campaign by 'carnival barker... with fake hair' to ban Muslims from the US
WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday challenged Republicans to denounce their party’s presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, claiming his proposal to ban Muslims from travelling to the US should disqualify him from being commander-in-chief.
Painting Trump as a “carnival barker” with “fake hair” whose campaign has a “dustbin of history” quality, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Trump’s proposals were unconstitutional.
“What Donald Trump said yesterday disqualifies him from serving as president,” said Earnest, describing his comments variously as “offensive” and “toxic.”
The unusually strident language from the White House reflects a concern about the impact of Trump’s comments on US Muslims and the fight against the Islamic State group, but it also indicates the White House spies a political opportunity ahead of the 2016 election.
Earnest was quick to pounce on leading Republicans who condemned Trump’s remarks, but said they would still support him if he were the party nominee.
“What he said is disqualifying and any Republican who’s too fearful of the Republican base to admit it has no business serving as president either,” he said.
Trump showed little inclination to back down, however, and instead compared the proposed ban to actions taken by Franklin D. Roosevelt against Japanese and German “enemy aliens” during World War II, though he stopped short of advocating internment camps.
Asked in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program if his proposal went against treasured American values, he responded: “No, because FDR did it!”
In Geneva, the United Nations refugee agency — though not directly responding to Trump’s remarks — warned that rhetoric in the US presidential campaign was threatening a key refugee resettlement program in the United States.