Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is no longer confidently standing behind his proposal to temporarily ban all Muslim travel to the United States.
At a press conference in North Dakota on Thursday, Trump was asked at least four times whether he still wants “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” a policy he called for in December. He never directly answered the question.
Trump Tries To Have It Both Ways On Muslim Ban, Now Says It’s ‘Just A Suggestion’Politics by CREDIT: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer When Donald Trump first proposed banning non-citizens Muslims from the…thinkprogress.orgThe first time Trump was asked about the ban, he responded only by saying the world has a problem with “radical Islamic terrorism,” and that something must be done.
“We’re going to be looking at a lot of things,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
The second time Trump was asked, a reporter directly asked Trump whether the proposed Muslim ban still stands. Trump dodged the question, saying he was “very unhappy when I look at the world of radical Islam” and that “we’re going to come up with a solution.”
The reporter asked Trump two more times whether he supported banning Muslims from entering the United States, and received no response.
Trump’s refusal to answer questions about his proposed Muslim ban came one day after his policy adviser Paul Manafort told the Huffington Post that Trump would likely “soften” his stance on Muslim travel.
“He operates by starting the conversation at the outer edges and then brings it back towards the middle,” Manafort said. “Within his comfort zone, he’ll soften it some more.”