Less than 24 hours after Republican Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, his statement calling for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the U.S. mysteriously vanished from his campaign website.
In the Dec. 7, 2015, statement Trump, pointed to polling data that suggested 25% of Muslims support violence against Americans: “Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anyone the hatred is beyond comprehension.”
But, without explanation, the signature campaign message is no longer on the president-elect’s website, and the page where it once was now redirects to a donation page.
Trump’s proposed ban on an entire religion entering the U.S. sparked tremendous backlash — but also tremendous support from groups like the alt-right.
Fear-mongering and anger were central to Trump’s message on Muslims, and the candidate doubled-down on the idea after several terror attacks in the U.S., most recently the Chelsea bombing.
The increased use of dog-whistle language has led to an uptick in Islamophobic attacks in 2016. Trump’s win on election night has already stoked fear in U.S. Muslims, some women opting to not wear a hijab out of worry of racial abuse.
Trump’s campaign has yet to release a statement on the statement’s removal from the website.
