Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Wednesday that his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States has “nothing to do with religion,” despite saying a day earlier that his plan would involve customs agents asking travelers whether they were Muslim.
Trump called Monday for a “a total and complete shutdown” on Muslims entering the country, but he and his team have given conflicting statements on how the proposed ban would work. Details such as how—and where—he would identify Muslims were unclear.
Trump insisted Wednesday morning on “Live With Kelly and Michael” that his ban wasn’t related to religion and that the nation needs to “get its act together.”
“It’s not about religion, it’s about safety,” Trump said. “This has nothing to do with religion, it’s about safety.”
That conflicts with what he said Tuesday morning in an interview with MSNBC. When pressed by “Morning Joe” co-host Willie Geist about if he would question individuals before or after they arrived in the U.S., Trump responded that U.S. custom agents would have to ask travelers if they were Muslim and turn them away if they responded, “yes.”
