Donald Trump set off a firestorm of criticism on Monday when he called for a temporary ban on allowing foreign Muslims to enter the U.S. until the jihadist threat is dealt with.
The comments, which came in the wake of the San Bernardino massacre — the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil since 9/11 — received sharp rebuke from many politicians and pundits.
Gathered below are 16 fellow Republicans who disagree with Trump's plan.
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1. House Speaker Paul Ryan — "Normally, I do not comment on what's going on in the presidential election. I will take an exception today," Ryan said Tuesday,
according to ABC News. "This is not conservatism. What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for. And, more importantly, it's not what this country stands for . . . Not only are there many Muslims serving in our armed forces dying for this country, there are Muslims serving right here in the House working every day to uphold and to defend the Constitution . . . Some of our best and biggest allies in this struggle and fight against radical Islamic terror are Muslims — the vast, vast, vast majority of whom are peaceful, who believe in pluralism, freedom, democracy, individual rights."
2. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — The senator from Kentucky said Tuesday that Trump's proposed ban is "completely and totally inconsistent with American values,"
The Hill reported. He said that Trump's ban would likely bar allies such as Jordan's King Abdullah II from visiting the U.S.
3. Former Vice President Dick Cheney — "I think this whole notion that somehow we can just say no more Muslims, just ban a whole religion, goes against everything we stand for and believe in. I mean, religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from," the former VP
told radio host Hugh Hewitt.
4. Ari Fleischer — President George W. Bush's former aide Ari Fleischer
noted in a tweet that, "Under Trump, the King Abdullah of Jordan, who is fighting ISIS, won't be allowed in the U.S. to talk about how to fight ISIS." He added, "Trump's statement calling for a total ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. is nuts. I'd like to see Trump tell that to Muhammad Ali."
5. Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus — "We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism, but not at the expense of our American values," Priebus said in reaction to Trump's proposal,
The Daily Beast reported.
6. Mike Huckabee — The former Arkansas governor and presidential contender said Trump's proposed ban, whatever its merits, was impossible to enforce. "If you’re willing to strap a bomb to the belly of your child to kill Americans, then you’re willing to lie about your religion," Huckabee said,
according to ABC News. "A ban on Muslims is impossible to enforce because Islamic terrorists will tell whatever lie they can to enter this country to kill more Americans. And it’s simply unconstitutional to ban people on the basis of religion."
7. Rick Santorum — "What Donald Trump has proposed is not a workable idea and not the right idea, but what Donald Trump is saying, that we have no way in which to properly screen people coming in to this country who are jihadist is absolutely true," the former Pennsylvania governor said Tuesday,
according to CBS News.
8. Marco Rubio — The senator from Florida and second-place GOP presidential candidate
tweeted on Monday, "I disagree with Donald Trump's latest proposal. His habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together."
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9. Ben Carson—The neurosurgeon said Tuesday that he disagrees with Donald Trump's call for a ban, saying monitoring visitors and tracking internet activity was a better strategy for dealing with terrorism.
According to CNN, he also said, "We do not discriminate on people based on religion — that's constitutional, that's in the First Amendment, so we would never want to do that."
10. Chris Christie — "This is the kind of thing that people say when they have no experience and don't know what they're talking about," Christie said of Trump's proposal on Monday,
WPVI-TV reported.
11. Carly Fiorina — "Donald Trump needed the spotlight back," Fiorina said Tuesday,
USA Today reported. "So this is what he said, and everybody’s paying attention. Donald Trump for example’s been saying we’re going to use a religious test and ban people from coming into this country. It’s a violation of our Constitution, but it also undermines the character of our nation. We stand for religious liberty."
12. Jeb Bush — "Donald Trump is unhinged," Jeb Bush
said via Twitter on Monday night. "His 'policy' proposals are not serious."
13. Lindsey Graham — Trump "has gone from making absurd comments to being downright dangerous with his bombastic rhetoric," Trump's rival candidate
said on Twitter Monday night. "He’s putting at risk the lives of interpreters, American supporters, diplomats, & the troops in the region by making these bigoted comments. Every candidate for president needs to do the right thing & condemn @Realdonaldtrump's statement."
14. John Kasich — "This is just more of the outrageous divisiveness that characterizes his every breath and another reason why he is entirely unsuited to lead the United States," the Ohio governor and rival presidential candidate said in reaction to Trump's proposal on Monday,
Cleveland.com reported.
15. Ted Cruz — "Just to be crystal clear, would you support a policy that prohibits Muslims from entering this country, including as tourists?" a reporter asked Trump's rival presidential candidate,
the Washington Examiner reported. "No, that is not my policy," Cruz answered. "I believe the focus should focus on radical Islamic terrorism. And we need to be directly focused on threats to the United States. We need a commander-in-chief that perceives what the threat is and then targets all of our resources to protecting this nation against radical Islamic terrorists."
16. Rand Paul — "I think stricter scrutiny is a good idea," the senator
told Yahoo's Katie Couric on Tuesday, but added that a religious test is the wrong way to go about it.
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