Despite backlash, Trump's Muslim travel ban resonates with supporters

Many of Donald Trump's supporters have been baffled by the widespread condemnation of his proposal to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the United States.

|
Charlie Neibergall/AP
An audience member holds a sign during a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Friday, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States sparked a firestorm of criticism last week, with rebukes from liberals and conservatives alike. The loyalty of his supporters, even in the face of intense backlash, suggests that Mr. Trump's suggestion has struck a deep chord with many voters.

Supporter Tracy Hooker still says Trump is “my guy.”

She realizes some people think it’s bigoted and others argue it’s impractical or illegal. Last week, the White House suggested the proposal renders Trump ineligible to become president. But for Ms. Hooker, it represents a logical solution. 

"Think about it. You don't know what you've got here. You've got no clue," she said of the Muslim tourists, immigrants, and refugees Trump wants to temporarily bar from coming to the US. "You don't know if they like us. You don't know if they hate us."

The Associated Press interviewed dozens of Trump supporters over the last week in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The pervading feeling toward Trump’s proposal is bafflement over the swift condemnation it received.

Iowa's Dale Witmer, a registered Republican and Word War II veteran, thinks Trump’s Muslim ban is a “great idea.” He said he didn’t “know how to comprehend” the backlash it received.

"I think it's been made into something it wasn't meant to be. I think basically what he's doing is saying, 'OK, wait a minute. Refugees, we need to make sure we know what we're looking for and to make sure everything is in place,' " Dan Edwards, a retired banker from Van Meter, Iowa, told the AP.

New Hampshire state Rep. Stephen Stepanek (R), Trump's campaign co-chairman in the state, said the reaction to Trump's proposal fit the pattern of his campaign: First outrage, then a realization that Trump hit the nail on the head.

"He's always one step ahead of all the other politicians in pointing out a problem. And everybody's outraged. And then all of a sudden they start analyzing what he said and realize, 'Oh my god, he's right,' " Representative Stepanek told AP. 

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll revealed that the majority of Americans, 57 percent, opposed the proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country. However, a slight majority of Republicans – 54 percent – support the idea.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Despite backlash, Trump's Muslim travel ban resonates with supporters
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/1214/Despite-backlash-Trump-s-Muslim-travel-ban-resonates-with-supporters
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe