Newt Gingrich, a finalist in Donald Trump's search for a presidential running mate, echoed a comment that got the GOP presumptive nominee in hot water in December.
Talking about the
terror attack in Nice, France that left at least 80 dead, Gingrich told Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity every Muslim in America should be checked for adherence to Islamic law.
"Western civilization is in a war," he said. "We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in sharia, they should be deported. Sharia is incompatible with western civilization."
Modern Muslims who reject sharia should be welcomed as citizens, Gingrich said, but added, "We need to be fairly relentless about defining who our enemies are. Anybody who goes on a website favoring ISIS or al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, that should be a felony, and they should go to jail. Any organization which hosts such a website should be engaged in a felony. It should be closed down immediately."
Every Internet-based source should be shut down, but it shouldn't stop there, Gingrich said.
"We should destroy them with kinetic power, using various weapons starting with Predators [drones] and frankly just killing them. I am sick and tired of being told that the wealthiest, most powerful civilization in history, all of Western civilization, is helpless in the face of a group of Medieval barbarians who, for example, recently burned 20 young women to death – burned them to death because they wouldn't have sex with them."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.