- May 2016: Trump refused to soften it.
- June 2016: Trump expanded it to a ban on immigrants from any country “with a proven history of terrorism.”
- July 2016: Trump recommitted to the June expansion, suggesting it’d also involve extreme vetting, if not a total ban, on immigration from countries like France and Germany.
- Early August 2016: Trump’s running mate elaborated on a further expanded iteration of the ban, which would target Muslims but also, according to him, apply to Jewish and Christian immigrants, refugees, and presumably even tourists (?), from the banned countries.
Beyond the proposal’s underlying bigotry and significant logistical issues, there’s a real case to be made that Trump and his running mate, as well as plenty of others in the GOP, wouldn’t themselves past such a test.
Pence and Trump oppose women’s right to choose, funding for women’s health programs, equal pay, and paid family leave, all while supporting profiling on the basis of religion and promoting additional policies that discourage pluralism. And then there’s Pence well-documented support for discrimination against LGBT individuals and the fact that Trump just last week attended a so-called “religious freedom” conference with radical anti-LGBT activists who, among other things, consider HIV and AIDS a punishment from God.
Plus, Trump himself has opposed marriage equality, implied he’d appoint anti-LGBT justices to the Supreme Court, said he supports for North Carolina’s anti-LGBT HB2 law, and assured the anti-LBGT Faith and Freedom Coalition, “I’m with you 100%.”
Published: Aug 15, 2016