Trump’s remarks on registering Muslims shocking: Clinton

Washington: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton today condemned as “shocking rhetoric” Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s comments that Muslims in the US should be registered in a data base.

“This is shocking rhetoric. It should be denounced by all seeking to lead this country,” Clinton said in a tweet, a day after Trump in an interview did not rule out a Muslim database, if elected to power.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a Republican presidential candidate also denounced the idea.

“You talk about internment, you talk about closing mosques, you talk about registering people – that’s just wrong,” Bush told CNBC in an interview.

“It’s not a question of toughness. It’s manipulating people’s angst and their fears. That’s not strength; that’s weakness,” he said.

Trump, however, insisted on his idea of a database of the Muslims.

“I would certainly implement that, absolutely,” he told the NBC news last night.

Trump was asked by NBC News whether he would support creating a database system to track Muslims.

Trump, leading the polls for the Republican nomination, has issued several controversial remarks about Muslims and Syrian refugees in the wake of last week’s attacks in Paris claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.

Democratic presidential aspirant Martin O’Malley also lashed out at Trump.

“I have found that in times of crisis it’s very important for leaders to remind us of the principles that we share as a people, the values we have as a people,” he told the MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, in an interview.

“When you hear people like Donald Trump talking about wanting to do ID cards based on religion. What the hell is that? I mean, how is that at all American?” O’Malley asked.