During Thursday night's presidential debate, Donald Trump claimed that Islam had a "tremendous hatred" of the West and "virtually 100 percent" of mosques are radical.
This reaffirmed his statements said to Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. "I think Islam hates us," Trump said in an interview on CNN. He continued, ""¦and we can't allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the United States."
When asked about his Muslim friends and employees being a "part of the hatred" that he spoke of, he contended that although he has Muslim friends, when you "look at the mosques and you go to various places and you look what's going on"¦you could say radical Islam is a disaster right now, it's causing tremendous problems worldwide, not just here. But the question was asked about Islam and there's great hatred, there's no question about it."
Marco Rubio claimed during the debate that Trump appeals to voters because he says what people wish they could say. However, "the problem is," Rubio added, "presidents can't just say anything they want. It has consequences, here and around the world."
Rubio told him his experience in hearing about the hostile work environment in Bangladesh because of America's critical comments of Islamic religion. He also pointed out the number of Muslims who risk their lives to serve in the United States military.
Trump argued that Rubio was attempting to be politically correct and stated once again that "there is tremendous hate" in Islam and also pointed out the horrible treatment of women in Islamic culture.
Rubio responded, "I'm not interested in being politically correct. I'm interested in being correct."
Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, told Religion News, "Anti-Muslim rhetoric is motivating Muslim Americans across the country to engage in the political process like never before."
Muslim groups have been launching voter registration drives to ensure that Islamophobic rhetoric of the election campaign is rejected at the polls.
Trump has previously called for a "total and complete" shutdown of Muslim immigration to the U.S. back in December. 75-year-old Charlie Marzka of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina told CNN, "We should definitely disallow any Muslims from coming in. Any of them. The reason is simple: we can't identify what their attitude is."
Trump's Muslim supporters continue to support him for his strengths in business skills and economic standpoint, and his ability to "bring a new perspective to things, and really shake things up in Washington," said Saba Ahmed, president and founder of the Republican Muslim Coalition.
