Donald Trump on Monday offered a confusing explanation for who exactly he was referring to when he said “we’re gonna have to start profiling” after this weekend’s attacks in New York and New Jersey.
His remarks on Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor” made clear that anybody who looks like they could be from the Middle East may be targeted. Host Bill O’Reilly asked the GOP nominee to expand on the renewed call for profiling he made earlier Monday on Fox in response to the bombings.
“Another thing that you said that was very controversial is that you want to profile. You want to profile Arab or Muslim men. How would that work?” O’Reilly asked.
“Well, we have no choice,” Trump replied. “Look, Israel does it and Israel does it very successfully.”
“When they see somebody that they would like to talk to, that they would like to look at, that they would maybe like to open up their satchel and take a look inside, they do it,” he continued. “And they don’t like to do it. I don’t like to do it. But we have to be—you know, you have a woman who is 87-years-old in a wheelchair from Sweden and we have to look at her if we’re going to look at somebody else. It’s ridiculous what’s going on.”
Trump repeated his claim that “political correctness” was preventing law enforcement from questioning individuals suspected of terrorist activity.
O’Reilly asked how profiling would work in a Trump administration.
“It works,” Trump replied. “Where if we see somebody that we think there could be a problem, at airports and other places, you talk to them and you see what’s going on.”
“But I think they do that now,” O’Reilly replied.
“We don’t do that,” Trump insisted.
There is abundant evidence that Muslims, Sikhs and people of Middle Eastern descent are already singled out for more aggressive searches and questioning at U.S. airports.
Later in the interview, Trump said that he never referred to Muslims specifically but instead wanted law enforcement to profile “suspicious” people.
“Almost 100 percent of the terrorism now is Muslim fanatics, almost 100 percent,” O’Reilly claimed.
“You are not going to be profiling leather jackets who, you know, with blue eyes at this point,” he added.
“Honestly, whatever it is, I’m not going to use the term Muslims,” Trump said. “I’m saying you’re going to have to profile. We’re gonna have to start profiling. And it’s, you know, I don’t know if it’s that bad, but certainly it’s not a wonderful thing.”
Trump gave some indication of who he thought should be profiled in a Monday interview on “Fox and Friends,” referring to people “from that part of the world” while accusing refugees of destroying our country and making it “unsafe for people.”
“If somebody looks like he’s got a massive bomb on his back, we won’t go up to that person and say, ‘I’m sorry,’ because if he looks like he comes from that part of the world, we’re not allowed to profile. Give me a break,” he said.
Why be coy? It’s not his style.
Is this Conway’s influence
How about you start profiling your own spawn, you hideous orange Skittle?
Somebody, please just put a barrier around Trump tower and declare it a toxic waste dump.
“People from that part of the world”
Since he regards a judge born in Indiana as being “from Mexico,” I’m pretty sure all know where this is going. We’re only a hop, skip and a jump - or perhaps just a nudge - from determining the % of blood to sort things out.
And, yes, in that last sentence I was “coy” about the nazi reference. But it’s clear what I meant, just like Trump.
Of course it’s his style to be coy. By not specifically naming groups he leaves the listeners room to say “Hey that’s not me, why worry?” When in fact the targets of profiling under his plan could expand and no explanation will be given because “security concerns.”