'Muslim Ban' Removed from Trump's Campaign Website after Reporter's Question
The Trump administration had argued that the travel restrictions were necessary national security measures, not a "Muslim ban". Earlier on Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer fended off a question by an ABC reporter about the Muslim ban statement that was still on Trump’s campaign website.
In December 2015, after a deadly militant attack in Paris claimed by the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group, then-candidate Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”.
When Trump signed a 27 January executive order banning the entry of citizens from Yemen, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Libya, including permanent US residents, it was seen as an implementation of his campaign promise.
But when challenged in courts on grounds of religious discrimination, the administration denied that the executive order is faith-based.
"If this White House is no longer calling this a Muslim ban, as the president did initially, why does the president’s website still explicitly calls for 'preventing Muslim immigration?'" ABC News' Cecilia Vega asked Spicer.
Vega later tweeted that the statement was taken down from Trump's website minutes after her question.
After the executive order was suspended by US courts, Trump issued another decree with a more limited scope. The second executive order was also halted by federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland.
The new ban excluded Iraq and dropped directives for preferential treatment for religious minorities seeking refugee status in the US.
Source: Middle East Eye
