Trump unapologetic about his supposed part in terrorist recruitment video
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Christian Examiner)—Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is standing by his earlier promise to close U.S. borders to Muslims even after an al Quaeda affiliate has apparently released a recruitment video using his soundbites to call America "racist."
I have to say what I have to say. And you know what I have to say? There's a problem.
"I mean, what am I going to do?" he asked CBS's John Dickerson on Sunday's "Face The Nation." "I have to say what I have to say. And you know what I have to say? There's a problem. We have to find what is the problem, and we have to solve the problem."
During the CBS interview Trump seemed unapologetic that his words ended up in the recruitment video.
"They use other people, too," Trump said.
Trump's controversial statement came following the San Bernardino, Calif., shooting last month. At the time Trump claimed he wanted "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on."
Trump had previously suggested that the government should be doing surveillance of all mosques and said he was open to establishing a database of Muslims living in the country, according to CNN.com.
In the recruitment video, which surfaced over the weekend, a spokesman for the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab said, "Yesterday, America was a land of slavery, segregation, lynching and Klu Klux Klan. And tomorrow it will be a land of religious discrimination and concentration camps." The spokesman used clips of Trump and Malcom X to back up his claims.
The video also includes recent footage of police shootings and violence against African Americans in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore, along with claims that Muslims can expect similar treatment in the near future. Excerpts of previous messages by deceased radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki predicting persecution of Muslims in the United States were included in the video as well, according to a story on CNN.com.
The video was originally posted on Youtube but is no longer available.
Trump had previously rebuffed claims that his words could be used against American interests abroad. In a December debate Hillary Clinton, the leading Democrat in the presidential race, called Trump a recruitment tool for Muslim extremists. Trump then demanded an apology of Clinton because she provided no proof that Trump's words were being used by terrorist recruiters.
CNN.com says Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters that "any indication that supports the notion that the U.S. is at war with Islam will be taken advantage of by terrorist organizations."
Rhodes also suggested that the narrative that says Americans were at war with Islam will lead to more terrorist recruits.