Donald Trump Asks Crowd If Non-Christian Conservatives Should Be Thrown Out
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is receiving criticism after he jokingly asked during a campaign rally in Iowa on Wednesday whether or not he should have non-Christian conservatives tossed out of the event.
During a campaign event in Council Bluffs, the billionaire real estate mogul tried to rally his conservative Christian audience by pointing out that "Christian Conservatives for Trump" were present.
"We have our Christian Conservatives for Trump today, and they're in the room," Trump said, followed by an applause.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Let's go. That's what we want. That's beautiful," Trump continued, as he held up the group's campaign sign.
Trump then asked all the Christian conservatives attending the rally to raise their hands and identify themselves. He then asked non-Christians to raise their hands also.
"Raise your hand, Christian conservatives, everybody," Trump said. "Raise your hand if you're not a Christian conservative. I want to see this, right."
A few members of the audience raised their hands to identify themselves as non-Christians.
"Oh, there's a couple people, that's all right," Trump said.
Then, Trump seemingly asked the Christians whether or not "we should keep" the non-Christians in the room.
"I think we'll keep them. Should we keep them in the room?" Trump asked. "Yes? I think so."
Although Trump's remarks about non-Christians appear to have been issued in a joking manner, the Council on American-Islamic Relations criticized Trump for his "disturbing" comments.
"Given Mr. Trump's history of targeting religious and ethnic minorities, it is disturbing that he would single out non-Christians during his rally in Iowa," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement. "It is clear that his vision of America is one of division and exclusion, not unity and acceptance."
Jeet Heer, the senior editor of the New Republic, warned on Twitter that Trump's remark should be "a bit worrying if you are agnostic, atheist, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, Sikh, or even, God forbid, a liberal Christian."
Trump's joke about non-Christians comes after Hillary Clinton received much criticism when she said earlier this month during a fundraiser in Manhattan that "you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables," adding that they are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic."
Clinton's comments drew the ire of social conservatives and evangelicals across the nation, including hundreds gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Family Research Council's annual Values Voters Summit.
"Actually, I find the phrase deplorable kind of interesting, interesting use of a phrase, given the fact that her foundation has taken money from countries that when you think about 'deplorable people,' they put them in prison and they execute them," FRC president Tony Perkins said during a news conference at the summit.
"So, I am wondering what she has planned for a large portion of America that still believe in traditional values," Perkins said. "It's concerning."
Clinton later clarified her comment, saying the percentage of deplorable Trump supporters was incorrect.
"I regret saying 'half' — that was wrong," Clinton stated. "But let's be clear, what's really 'deplorable' is that Donald Trump hired a major advocate for the so-called 'alt-right' movement to run his campaign and that David Duke and other white supremacists see him as a champion of their values."
