By Piers Morgan for MailOnline
Donald Trump’s demand that all Muslims be banned from America has worked.
It sparked exactly the kind of furore he hoped it would, and we’re all once again talking about little else but Donald Trump.
This was no casual aside or slip of the tongue.
It was a deliberate, carefully planned delivery of highly toxic, inflammable rhetoric designed to get the whole country up in arms.
And new poll numbers indicate Trump’s popularity has gone UP not down in the last 36 hours.
Love him or loathe him, and I personally love him but loathe this latest stunt (and have emailed him to say this) Trump knows how to dominate the news cycle like no presidential candidate in history.
He’s been wall-to-wall on U.S. network and cable news shows since making his ban-Muslim comments, and social media has been predictably ablaze with people violently agreeing and disagreeing with him.
Today, it’s clear that far from wrecking his campaign as many thought it would, his outrageous plan has increased his standing with core Republican voters.
Why?
Well not because they hate all Muslims, although I’m sure some do.
No, it’s because Trump used 9/11 to justify his stance, and there is no more powerful tool for a Republican candidate to utilise when whipping up votes than the worst terror attack on U.S. mainland.
As with all Trump ‘scandals’ that we’ve witnessed since he entered the race in June, there is a kernel of truth to what he says.
It is undeniable, as he claims, that a significant number of Muslims, or rather twisted jihadists who’ve hijacked Islam, hate America and want to destroy it with more attacks like 9/11.
How many?
Where are they?
What are they planning?
Nobody knows. That’s the problem.
All we can be fairly certain of is that some, like the husband and wife who committed the San Bernardino massacre last week, are lurking in the shadows of U.S. cities and towns right now, radicalised and armed to the teeth, ready to kill and maim Americans.
Just as they are in Britain, Germany and France.
There will be more Islamic-related terror outrages, and with each one Trump will say he’s been vindicated.
It’s fine for people like me to point out that far more mass shootings will be committed by white Christians, as they have been and will be, but most Americans are immune to gun violence and frankly don’t care.
They just see a very dangerous medieval enemy in ISIS that is marauding around the world beheading, stoning and setting fire to anyone that stands in their way.
And now, since San Bernardino, ISIS and its sympathisers are seen to be living and plotting on Americans’ own doorsteps, and it’s freaking everyone out.
Muhammad Ali is right to say, as he did in a statement last night, that ‘true Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.’
He is also right to demand political leaders make more effort to better explain Islam and emphasise that ‘misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what it really is.'
But the reason Trump’s new, stunningly divisive message is resonating with so many Americans is that none of his opponents seems to have a clue how better to deal with this deadly threat, especially President Obama.
Like the new enemy, Trump hits us –verbally – very, very hard.
There’s no lengthy, calm, measured, professorial thesis on big issues, of the kind we regularly see from Obama.
Trump just takes a firm position and smashes it into the public consciousness in brusque, simple, uncompromising language that everyone can understand.
And when it comes to ISIS, the American people are desperate for some kind of clarity.
As Obama is seen to be fiddling while Rome burns, Trump is seen, whether you agree with him or not, to at least have an understanding of the immediacy and scale of the threat and a clear determination to try and deal with it.
There’s a political motivation, of course there is.
The more Trump gets attacked for his controversial opinions on Islamic fundamentalism, the more airtime he gets and the more his ratings soar.
That’s why he does it.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...a-dumber-says-Piers-Morgan.html#ixzz3u2IZb7h4
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Donald Trump’s demand that all Muslims be banned from America has worked.
It sparked exactly the kind of furore he hoped it would, and we’re all once again talking about little else but Donald Trump.
This was no casual aside or slip of the tongue.
It was a deliberate, carefully planned delivery of highly toxic, inflammable rhetoric designed to get the whole country up in arms.
And new poll numbers indicate Trump’s popularity has gone UP not down in the last 36 hours.
Love him or loathe him, and I personally love him but loathe this latest stunt (and have emailed him to say this) Trump knows how to dominate the news cycle like no presidential candidate in history.
He’s been wall-to-wall on U.S. network and cable news shows since making his ban-Muslim comments, and social media has been predictably ablaze with people violently agreeing and disagreeing with him.
Today, it’s clear that far from wrecking his campaign as many thought it would, his outrageous plan has increased his standing with core Republican voters.
Why?
Well not because they hate all Muslims, although I’m sure some do.
No, it’s because Trump used 9/11 to justify his stance, and there is no more powerful tool for a Republican candidate to utilise when whipping up votes than the worst terror attack on U.S. mainland.
As with all Trump ‘scandals’ that we’ve witnessed since he entered the race in June, there is a kernel of truth to what he says.
It is undeniable, as he claims, that a significant number of Muslims, or rather twisted jihadists who’ve hijacked Islam, hate America and want to destroy it with more attacks like 9/11.
How many?
Where are they?
What are they planning?
Nobody knows. That’s the problem.
All we can be fairly certain of is that some, like the husband and wife who committed the San Bernardino massacre last week, are lurking in the shadows of U.S. cities and towns right now, radicalised and armed to the teeth, ready to kill and maim Americans.
Just as they are in Britain, Germany and France.
There will be more Islamic-related terror outrages, and with each one Trump will say he’s been vindicated.
It’s fine for people like me to point out that far more mass shootings will be committed by white Christians, as they have been and will be, but most Americans are immune to gun violence and frankly don’t care.
They just see a very dangerous medieval enemy in ISIS that is marauding around the world beheading, stoning and setting fire to anyone that stands in their way.
And now, since San Bernardino, ISIS and its sympathisers are seen to be living and plotting on Americans’ own doorsteps, and it’s freaking everyone out.
Muhammad Ali is right to say, as he did in a statement last night, that ‘true Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.’
He is also right to demand political leaders make more effort to better explain Islam and emphasise that ‘misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what it really is.'
But the reason Trump’s new, stunningly divisive message is resonating with so many Americans is that none of his opponents seems to have a clue how better to deal with this deadly threat, especially President Obama.
Like the new enemy, Trump hits us –verbally – very, very hard.
There’s no lengthy, calm, measured, professorial thesis on big issues, of the kind we regularly see from Obama.
Trump just takes a firm position and smashes it into the public consciousness in brusque, simple, uncompromising language that everyone can understand.
And when it comes to ISIS, the American people are desperate for some kind of clarity.
As Obama is seen to be fiddling while Rome burns, Trump is seen, whether you agree with him or not, to at least have an understanding of the immediacy and scale of the threat and a clear determination to try and deal with it.
There’s a political motivation, of course there is.
The more Trump gets attacked for his controversial opinions on Islamic fundamentalism, the more airtime he gets and the more his ratings soar.
That’s why he does it.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...a-dumber-says-Piers-Morgan.html#ixzz3u2IZb7h4
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
