DEMOCRATIC presidential hopeful Joe Biden has said that
he would overturn President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban on his first day in office and partner with Muslims to undo the social harms caused by such measures. In a speech to Engage Action, an advocacy group for Muslim Americans, on Monday afternoon, the former Vice President also said that Muslims were the first to suffer attacks under the Trump Administration.
Joe Biden has justifiably pointed out that Donald Trump has fanned the flames of hate in the country across the board through his words, his policies, his appointments and his deeds. Trump’s anti-Muslim bigotry has a long history. In 2011 and 2012, he insinuated that President Barack Obama was secretly a Muslim. In September 2015, at a campaign rally, Trump nodded along as a supporter claimed “we have a problem in this country; it’s called Muslims.” In November 2015, on “Morning Joe,” Trump said that America needs to “watch and study the mosques.” Four days later, he indicated that he would “certainly implement” a database to track Muslims in the United States. Two days after that, he falsely claimed that “thousands and thousands” of Muslims cheered in New Jersey when the World Trade Centre collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. On Dec. 7, 2015, he called to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. His actions after assuming presidency and tweets, through which he has been conducting his diplomacy, spoke of his clear bias against Muslims and this encouraged Islamophobia. His policies have not only antagonized Muslims around the world but also harmed national unity of the US and hopefully the issue would be highlighted during presidential election and anti-Muslim policies reversed.
