As 2015 neared its end, and Republican presidential nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire neared, Donald Trump announced a new priority. The future president declared his support for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” until such time that he was satisfied that U.S. officials understood “what the hell is going on.
In fact, the Republican made related declarations over the course of the summer. In June, for example, Trump told a far-right audience that his newly envisioned ban would include political and economic ideologies he doesn’t like. “We’re going to keep foreign, Christian-hating communists, Marxists and socialists out of America,” he said during a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s conference.