Between blaming the San Bernardino attacks on US President Barack Obama’s failure to say ‘Islamic extremism,’ to forgetting Muhammad Ali is a Muslim, it’s been hard to keep up with Donald Trump this week.
But the Republican candidate's infamy came to a head Monday, when he suggested to a crowd of supporters in South Carolina that Muslims be banned from entering America.
Unsurprisingly, this garnered a robust response online and then a response to those responses in the media. Fellow Republicans have largely condemned the statement, while the Twittersphere brought snark, disbelief and (yes) some 'hoo-rrahs' from Trump fans. Even Dick Cheney said he was out of line.
But how are Muslims themselves reacting?
There have been some prominent voices—Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef, Hillary Clinton’s ‘right-hand woman’ and the head of a Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles have chimed in, among others—bringing serious debate, tough questions and a little bit of humor to the chorus of voices talking about Trump and America right now.
Here are some of the highlights.
1. Hillary Clinton's vice chair Huma Abedin. In an email to supporters, the long-time Clinton aide pointed out she herself was a Muslim, and regardless, Trump's comments were disastrous for America. "I'm a proud Muslim – but you don't have to share my faith to share my disgust," Abedin wrote. "Trump wants to literally write racism into our law books... [and] his Islamophobia doesn't reflect our nation's values – it goes far enough to damage out country's reputation and could even threaten our national security."
2. Bassem Youssef. The Egyptian comedian and satirist's message about Trump was pretty simple, but definitely effective. This morning, he tweeted about it. Here is the tweet.
I didn't know that Donald Trump was fluent in Nazi
— Dr Bassem Youssef (@DrBassemYoussef) December 8, 2015
3. Executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' LA chapter, Hussam Ayloush. The civil rights leader spoke to NPR's Steve Inskeep Tuesday morning as responses to Trump's comments were just ramping up online. "I'm at a total disbelief that in this day in age and in America we have a person running for president using the kind of language we haven't heard since Fascists and Nazis have been defeated," he said. "It scares me that there are some people that hold so much ignorance and hatred in their hearts toward fellow Americans that happen to be Muslims...he is doing the work of ISIS... he is creating a war between America and Islam." See the full interview below.
4. Jordanian cartoonist, Emad Hajjaj: The cartoonist released a Trump caricature Tuesday with essentially the same message as Ayloush's comments at NPR. Only perhaps a little more forward, and definitely more darkly comical. Here's the comic.
5. Reze Aslan: The political and religions scholar has famously shot down conservative pundits' ignorant claims on religion and Islam in the past, and he was quick to jump on Trump, too.
Shit! I'm in Haiti. Well I guess I'll just have to live here. They have inalienable constitutional rights so it's ok https://t.co/LEmp9ssaKr
— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) December 7, 2015
6. Ali Velshi: Same goes for the Al Jazeera America host, who asked Trump if maybe the whole 'ban' could be postponed a little.
Hey @realDonaldTrump, I’m on a trip to the UK this week. Can you make your #totalmuslimban go into effect after I’m back? #please
— Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) December 7, 2015
7. Firas Alkhateeb, a Muslim student at University of Chicago: OK, so maybe Alkhateeb isn't as much of a prominent public figure as others on this list. But especially in light of Trump's other suggestion to "close" the Internet to prevent extremism from spreading, the student's tweet was too good not to include.
Does anyone know if the concentration camps Trump is planning for us Muslims will have WiFi?
— Firas Alkhateeb (@khateeb88) December 7, 2015
