Washington, DC – Today, Muslim Advocates released an issue brief providing  comprehensive documentation of Donald Trump’s long and extensive history of anti-Muslim statements and comments.

• Click here to download the issue brief.
• Click here to download a timeline.

In its recent decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court focused on a number of statements and actions by public officials that evidenced religious hostility.  As the court made clear: “The Constitution commits government itself to religious tolerance, and upon even slight suspicion that proposals for state intervention stem from animosity to religion or distrust of its practices, all officials must pause to remember their own high duty to the Constitution and to the rights it secures.”  

That same standard should lead the court to conclude that President Trump’s Muslim Ban is patently unconstitutional.  As detailed in the issue brief, Donald Trump, even before becoming president, long trafficked in anti-Muslim animus and bigotry, and the Muslim Ban reveals how that rhetoric is being translated into federal policy.

According to Johnathan Smith, legal director of Muslim Advocates, “In Masterpiece, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that words matter, especially when they are expressed by public officials.  This issue brief serves as a guide of Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim comments, speeches, and tweetstorms. The President needs to be held accountable for his statements, and we hope the Supreme Court takes the first step by striking down his discriminatory Muslim Ban.”

As the issue brief explains, “As a private citizen, as a candidate, and as President, Trump has continued to make an unbroken chain of anti-Muslim statements—many of which amount to a long-term effort aimed at linking Islam and Muslims with terrorism at any available opportunity. These statements form a clear record of the religious animus that has driven the policies Trump has pursued from the Oval Office. This issue brief collects many of these statements into a single record that underscores the sustained, demonstrable nature of the President’s anti-Muslim sentiments and the alarming degree to which those sentiments have driven his policies.”

Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization that works on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.

 

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