Donald Trump on Monday suggested he would “strongly consider” shutting down mosques in the U.S. as part of the response to the terror attacks in Paris.
“Well, I would hate to do it but it’s something you’re going to have to strongly consider,” Trump said during an interview on MSNBC. “Some of the absolute hatred is coming from these areas…The hatred is incredible. It’s embedded. The hatred is beyond belief. The hatred is greater than anybody understands.”
Trump’s comments come a day after France’s interior minister said he would pursue the “dissolution of mosques where hate is preached.”
On Monday, Trump also took a shot at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for his decision last year to halt a covert NYPD program used for surveillance on Muslim communities.
“You’re going to have to watch and study the mosques,” Trump said, “because a lot of talk is going on at the mosques…Under the old regime we had tremendous surveillance going around and in the mosques in New York City.”