In the United States, Presidential nominees for Democrats and Republicans will be declared soon. The issues of immigration, Syrian refugees and terrorism became the core of political debate and discourse in what analysts have described as an ‘ugly political climate’. Looking back, racist slurs and vitriol against Muslims, immigrants and Syrian refugees have featured consistently in speeches of Republican candidates, but motormouth Donald Trump stole all the limelight. According to a list compiled by Thinkprogress.org, here are the racist slurs by Republicans you may have missed:
Retired Neurosurgeon, Ben Carson, suggested a Muslim can never be president of United States:
Dr Ben Carson, Candidate for Republican NominationI would have problems with somebody who embraced all the doctrines associated with Islam, if they are not willing to reject sharia and all the portions of it that are talked about in the Quran – if they are not willing to reject that, and subject that to American values and the Constitution, then of course, I would (object).
According to Ted Cruz, Senator from Texas, only Muslim Syrian Refugees can potentially engage in acts of terrorism:
Ted Cruz, Senator from TexasThere is no meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror. If there were a group of radical Christians pledging to murder anyone who had a different religious view than they, we would have a different national security situation.
Chris Christie, the current governor of New Jersey suggests even accepting orphaned refugees below the age of five can be harmful:
Chris ChristieI don’t think orphans under the age of five should be admitted into the United States at this point. They have no family here. How are we going to care for these folks?
Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP, believes letting anyone into the United States, who comes from a ‘war-torn’ country, is a big mistake:
(The writer is a freelance journalist based in Cleveland)
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