Donald Trump is taking his anti-Muslim bigotry to another level – if that was even possible - as his first television advert flagrantly features his controversial call for banning the entry of all Muslim into the US and a border wall “paid for by Mexico”. The advert feeds off the insecurity and fear of the average American, by instilling hatred against Muslims, showing photos of the San Bernardino attackers, so-called Islamic State militants, a US warship firing cruise missiles, exploding buildings and undated footage of migrants purportedly crossing the US-Mexican border. While the Republican frontrunner is despicable to say the least, he has stooped at an all time low for the sake of cheap publicity and vile theatrics.
Trump’s video has once again made him a top story in the political media, generating yet another wave of free publicity, making him the only presidential candidate with the smallest fraction of funds spent on advertising. Trump has built his campaign on the pretext that he is willing to defy all standards of political correctness and go against the values that make America the land of the ‘free and fair’. In the aftermath of the attack that killed 130 people in Paris, he’s claimed that “thousands” of Muslims were cheering the 9/11 attacks on rooftops in New Jersey, and he’s seemed to suggest that he would support a registry of all Muslims in the US. Trump’s call to place an explicit religious test on immigration and travel goes against the constitution and has been condemned by both parties as well as millions of people.
The reaction to this idea was to accuse Trump of wanting to mimic laws that the Nazis had imposed on Jews, including requiring them to wear a gold Star of David on their clothes. This means that under a Trump administration, Muslims would have fewer rights than other Americans simply because of their faith, which is no different than advocating for racial profiling of blacks or Latinos. Perhaps it is time to take him seriously, keeping in view his growing support and shut down this dogmatist once and for all before he becomes a real threat to Muslims around the world not just the US.