Donald Trump has been under fire for his plan to register all Muslims who enter this country. New York Magazine was one of the many sources analyzing the news this past weekend .
“On Thursday, Donald Trump seemed to indicate to two separate reporters that he favored implementing a database for tracking Muslims in America, a Fascist-sounding suggestion which was then widely condemned, even drawing rebukes from his fellow Republican presidential candidates.”
Donald Trump then tweeted that the media was blowing his statements way out of proportion.
I didn’t suggest a database-a reporter did. We must defeat Islamic terrorism & have surveillance, including a watch list, to protect America
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2015
On Monday night, Trump appeared on The O’Reilly Factorto talk about the controversy.
“When they come in from Syria, guests of President Obama, we shouldn’t be taking anybody because we have no idea where they came from, who they are…They have no paperwork, no way of proving their paperwork is correct.”
Trump then added that, when they come in from Syria, he wants them to be registered.
He tried to be empathetic with the refugees, but noted that we don’t know if any of them belong to ISIS or not. Bill O’Reilly then told Mr. Trump that any refugee who comes here will get registered.
“No, what I want is that I don’t want them to come here,” Trump refuted.
Donald then used Kate Steinle, a girl in San Francisco who was killed by an illegal immigrant who was allowed to re-enter our country several times, to make his point. Bill O’Reilly understood Donald Trump, but indicated that the United States could at least bring in some women and children.
Whether or not the United States should bring in Syrian refugees has been a huge debate over the past week or so. Along with Donald Trump, there are many other Republicans who don’t want the United States to bring in any refugees. Mother Jones recently wrote an article stating why they think Trump and other Republicans are wrong on the issue.
“‘Those who come to the United States [Syrian refugees] have gone through a very thorough vetting process…with various departments of the government—the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center,’ says Matthew Soerens, an official at World Relief, one of the nine organizations that help the government resettle refugees in the US.”
The article adds that a senior Obama official said that the US government has added another layer of screenings specifically for Syrians called the “Syria Enhanced Review,” which prescreens and researches a refugee’s application. However, there are many people in the United States who still aren’t satisfied.
Donald Trump knows his audience and is obviously playing into their fears. Since the Paris attacks, Mr. Trump has risen in the polls — something that could prove that Americans are tired of the other candidates tiptoeing around the issue and caring more about not offending people than watching out for the safety of United States citizens. Trump may be called a racist or a xenophobe, but those doing so aren’t the type who would vote for him in the first place.
It remains to be seen how the terrorist event in France shapes the upcoming election. However one can bet that, as a result of the event, Bill O’Reilly’s ratings and Donald Trump’s polling numbers will continue to increase.
[Photo by Ty Wright/Getty Images]
