During a recent interview, vice presidential hopeful Mike Pence revealed that his running mate Donald Trump has softened his stance regarding the banning of Muslims entering the country. According to Pence, this is no longer Trump’s position on the matter.
The Republican vice presidential candidate made the revelation during an appearance at the “Morning Joe” program of MSNBC, according to Reuters. On the show, Pence reiterated that Trump no longer wants to impose a total ban on Muslim immigrants in the U.S.
“Of course not,” Pence replied when asked if Trump is planning on keeping Muslims away from the country.
“It’s not Donald Trump’s position now,” he added.
Trump first made this policy proposal in December last year following the attack in San Bernardino, California, where a mass shooting was carried out by alleged supporters of ISIS, CNN reported. Following the unfortunate event, the presidential nominee called for a ban on Muslims coming from countries where terrorist activities are prevalent.
Almost immediately after Trump publicized his proposal, he was criticized by news agencies, political rivals and supporters of the Democratic Party. They labeled him as a bigot for reportedly discriminating against certain individuals because of their religious background. His critics also noted that the policy violates the U.S. Constitution’s provision regarding the freedom of religion.
However, what Trump’s critics failed to realize is at the time when he made his proposal, the presidential candidate noted that he was worried about the country’s national security due to the sudden influx of immigrants coming from regions where terrorist groups are active.
Trump noted that since it is close to impossible to narrow down each immigrants’ attitude and political inclination, imposing a temporary ban until everything has been sorted out is an effective way to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens.
His recent decision to backtrack on his proposal could just be a simple policy change or his party may have found another more effective way to protect the U.S. from terrorist attacks.
