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Donald Trump Obliquely Backs a Federal Database To Track Muslims
HughPickens.com writes: Philip Bump reports at the Washington Post that Donald Trump confirmed to NBC on Thursday evening that he supports a database to track Muslims in the United States. The database of Muslims arose after an interview Yahoo News's Hunter Walker conducted with Trump earlier this week, during which he asked the Republican front-runner to weigh in on the current debate over refugees from Syria. "We're going to have to do things that we never did before," Trump told Walker. "Some people are going to be upset about it, but I think that now everybody is feeling that security is going to rule." When pressed on whether these measures might include tracking Muslim Americans in a database or noting their religious affiliations on identification cards, Trump would not go into detail — but did not reject the options. Trump's reply? "We're going to have to — we're going to have to look at a lot of things very closely," he said. "We're going to have to look at the mosques. We're going to have to look very, very carefully." After an event on in Newton, Iowa, on Thursday night, NBC's Vaughn Hillyard pressed the point. "Should there be a database system that tracks Muslims here in this country?," Hillyard asked. "There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases" Trump said. "We should have a lot of systems." Hillyard asked about implementation, including the process of adding people to the system. "Good management procedures," Trump said. Sign people up at mosques, Hillyard asked? "Different places," Trump replied. "You sign them up at different places. But it's all about management."
Today Trump released a statement saying the Muslim database was the reporter's idea, with his camp and conservative talking heads like Rush Oxycontin Limbaugh implying that the MSNBC reporter was laying a trap for him by asking such a provocative question while Trump was rushed for time. Of course the reporter was laying a trap but since Trump can't resist running his mouth whenever a microphone is put in front of his face he obliged and walked right into it.
Here is a transcript of what the reporter and trump said:
http://www.nationalreview.com/...
And here is Rush Fathead's spin on it:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/da...
The worst thing that can happen is that the overwhelming majority of Muslims, who are as horrified at the actions of IS as the rest of us, are marginalized and dissuaded from helping in rooting out this menace.
Then maybe they should go back in time to the point where enclaves full of extremist Islamists hadn't yet reached the point where the non-crazies were scared of them. Just like gangs in Baltimore and Chicago, and every other situation just like this throughout history. If the "overwhelming majority" of Muslims really didn't want to put up with the growing armies of their more purist, violent, militant, caliphate-minded brothers, then they'd already have done something about it. But they're generally not. It's tacit approval, not horror.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
The MSNBC reporter is the one who presented the idea but there is no second reporter in the grassy knoll as you suggest. The MSNBC reporter has Trump's full attention and repeatedly answers in the affirmative about the Muslim database to the reporter's follow-up questions. Here is the full interview including a transcript:
http://www.nationalreview.com/...
He's being quoted very accurately. Video link: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/t...
Those blaming SJWs aren't as interested in the facts as they are playing the woe is me victim of media bias again. Trump may be backpedaling, but this story is being reported perfectly accurately, whether you want to keep your head up your own ass or not.