WASHINGTON — Outrage. Disbelief. Unsettlement.

Those were the overall sentiments of civil rights groups, religious institutions and political leaders following Donald Trump’s statements on Monday, December 7 when he called for the U.S. to ban all Muslims from entering the country.

Trump, who leads opinion polls in the Republican nominating race, called for blocking Muslims, including would-be immigrants, students and tourists, from entering the country following last week’s deadly shootings in California by two Muslims who authorities said were radicalized.

Following his statements a White House spokesman said Trump’s would-be policy disqualifies him from being president.

“The fact is what Donald Trump said yesterday disqualifies him from serving as president,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a press briefing the following day.

Earnest noted first that every president must take an oath to “preserve, protect and defend” the U.S. Constitution and thus, he said, Trump would not qualify.

Secretary of State John Kerry also rebuked Trump’s comments.

“I would simply say that nondiscrimination and equal treatment are a pillar of not just American values but of our immigration and our admission policies in this country and the State Department remains totally committed to treating all religions with respect and without discrimination,” Kerry said during a press briefing in Paris.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said that Trump’s comments put U.S. national security at risk.

“Anything that bolsters ISIL’s narrative and pits the United States against the Muslim faith is certainly not only contrary to our values but contrary to our national security,” he said.

He also said that there are “many men and women in uniform today of the Muslim faith who are serving this country patriotically.”

The U.S. is working with Muslim nations right now, Cook noted. “We want to, in essence, take the fight to ISIL with the help of Muslims around the world.”

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton reached out to Muslim Americans this week ,following Trump’s call to ban Muslims.

“I was disgusted by Donald Trump’s comments earlier this week suggesting that America should ban Muslims from entering this country. That’s not what we stand for as a nation — that kind of policy proposal threatens our national security,” Clinton said. 

Civil rights groups from across the nation soon followed.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil liberties group in the country, said it has documented a wave of abuse, vandalism and acts of discrimination in the last month, fueled by Trump’s ideologies.

“It is reckless and simply un-American. Donald Trump sounds more like a leader of a lynch mob than a great nation like ours,” CAIR executive director Nihad Awad told a news conference in Washington, DC.

The Trump backlash went beyond politicians and government officials. Celebrities ranging from Harrison Ford to Harry Potter author J.K Rowling weighed in with disbelief. 

But the words of Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, seemed to have had a remarkable impact. On Wednesday, Zuckerberg issued a statement on Facebook that within hours was liked by more than 400,000 users.  

“I want to add my voice in support of Muslims in our community and around the world,” Zuckerberg said. “As a Jew, my parents taught me that we must stand up against attacks on all communities. Even if an attack isn’t against you today, in time attacks on freedom for anyone will hurt everyone.”

Republicans react

It didn’t take long for the rest of the Republican presidential primary field to repudiate Trump’s call.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed Trump’s proposal in a radio interview.

“This is the kind of thing that people say when they have no experience and don’t know what they are talking about. We do not need to resort to that type of activity nor should we,” Christie said on the Michael Medved radio show

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham called on every presidential candidate to “do the right thing & condemn Trump’s statement.”

Graham later told CNN that Trump’s rhetoric “is putting our troops serving abroad and our diplomats at risk.”

“For interpreters and others risking their lives abroad to help America — this is a death sentence,” Graham said.

In a statement, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said, “This is just more of the outrageous divisiveness that characterizes his every breath and another reason why he is entirely unsuited to lead the United States.”

Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson also said he is opposed to placing a religious test on U.S. visitors. Carson himself faced  criticism earlier this year from Muslim Americans. 

“Everyone visiting our country should register and be monitored during their stay, as is done in many countries. I do not and would not advocate being selective on one’s religion,” he said in a statement.

Local reactions

In the metro Detroit region, home to the largest concentration of Arabs and Muslims in the country, the reaction to Trump signaled unity among the community. 

The American Arab Civil Rights League (ACRL) issued a statement calling Trump a bigot. 

“The statements made by Mr. Trump that all Muslims should be banned from immigrating based on their religion are simply repugnant. The ACRL believes that regardless of our religion, we as Arab-Americans have a duty to protect others, especially minorities who are targeted for no other reason than their status as a minority. Having too often been the victims of bigotry and ignorance, it is we who understand better than most the consequences of allowing such rhetoric to go unchecked,” the statement said. 

The Arab American News Publisher Osama Siblani said that Trump was being unpatriotic. 

“This not good for our country,” Siblani said. “It violates the essence of our constitution and the values we brag about having in this country—that we are a nation of immigrants.” 

American Arab Discrimination Committee Director Fatina Abdrabboh said that Trump’s words represent a significant portion of present American ideologies. 

“More Muslims as a religious group have been killed by ISIS than anybody else,” Abdrabboh said. “Donald Trumps comments speak to the fears of the American public.” 

Gov. Rick Snyder distanced himself completely from Trump, stating that his platform as a Republican doesn’t meet eye to eye with Trump’s. 

“Just as it’s not right to lump people together, lumping me with Donald Trump just because we’re both Republicans is not a good thing,” Snyder said during a visit to the WWJ Newsradio 950 studios.

“I’ve been quite clear that I’m proud of the fact that we have the largest Arab-American community in the United States here in Michigan. I think it’s great,” he said. “It represents wonderful, wonderful diversity. What great contributions to our society in Michigan they’re making, and we’re all Michiganders together.”

Immediately following Trump’s comments on Monday, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell took to her social media platforms to weigh in on her disapproval. 

“Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. We must remember that when we allow fear to cause division, terrorism wins,” she said on her Facebook and Twitter accounts.

International reactions

Israeli politicians and more than 250,000 Britons urged their governments to bar Donald Trump from their countries following his statements. 

By Wednesday, Trump’s proposal began to hit the real estate mogul’s brand in the Middle East.

A major chain of Middle East department stores halted sales of the real estate mogul’s glitzy “Trump Home” line of lamps, mirrors and jewelry boxes. The Landmark firm, one of the region’s biggest retail companies, with 190 stores in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, said it was pulling all Trump merchandise off its shelves.

“In light of the recent statements made by the presidential candidate in the U.S. media, we have suspended sale of all products from the Trump Home décor range,” Landmark Chief Executive Officer Sachin Mundhwa said in an emailed statement. The company did not give any details on the value of the contract.

Although there were no other immediate announcements of business partners breaking with Trump, others made clear they were uneasy using his brand name in the Middle East, where he has been actively expanding his footprint in recent years, heavily concentrated in the Gulf business hub of Dubai.

Although Israeli politicians demanded Trump be blocked from a planned visit, a Dec. 28 meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was still on. 

Netanyahu issued a statement saying he rejected Trump’s remarks but the visit, set two weeks ago, would go ahead as planned and did not indicate support for Trump.

In addition to the online petition calling for  banning Trump from the United Kingdom, a Scottish university revoked his honorary degree.

Even China weighed in with indirect criticism of Trump’s comments. 

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she could not comment on internal U.S. matters, but said China believed “the international community should make a concerted effort to fight terrorism, and at the same time we have always opposed linking terrorism; to any specific ethnic group or religion.”

In Britain, the number of signatories to the petition demanding Trump be banned from visiting exceeded 250,000 and growing fast. In the past, people have been banned from entering the United Kingdom for fostering hatred that might provoke intercommunity violence.

Donald Trump aggressively moved forward with his stance in the days following his statements. He is now flirting with the idea of running as an independent if he doesn’t win the 2016 Republican nomination. 

-The Arab American News, Reuters