WASHINGTON – Remarks made by US President Donald Trump on national prayer day on Thursday, May 4, vowing religious tolerance to all faiths, has triggered Twitter storm, with many tacking “unless you’re Muslim” onto his call for inclusion.
“We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied, or silenced anymore, and we will never, ever stand for religious discrimination,” Trump said from the White House Rose Garden. “Never, ever,” New York Daily News reported.
Being the same man who once called to shut down Muslim immigration, and signed two executive orders to ban them, Trump’s calls did not go well.
“Unless you are Muslim, in which case stay out,” countered “Friday Night Lights” writer David Hudgins. “This man stands for nothing. What a disgrace.”
“Unless you’re Muslim or have a weird name,” tweeted @JacksonKrule.
“So says the author of the Muslim ban,” wrote ThinkProgress editor Judd Legum.
( …Unless you’re Muslim ) https://t.co/2vlpSYo0sw
— Kaiji Tang (@KaijiTang) May 4, 2017
Signing a “religious liberty” executive order that would give religious groups greater latitude in political activity, Trump went on to declare “federal government will never, ever penalize any person for their protected religious beliefs.”
“The president who signed the Muslim ban just said this,” tweeted the American Civil Liberties Union’s Virginia chapter.
This is an actual quote from a @POTUS who signed a Muslim ban. #nationaldayofprayer https://t.co/cr2Dqyn6ZB
— Lawyers’ Committee (@LawyersComm) May 4, 2017
Trump: We won’t allow ppl of faith to be targeted,bullied or silenced anymore
What he meant: Unless they’re Muslimhttps://t.co/EPMmmtw2I9
— Khary Penebaker (@kharyp) May 4, 2017
POTUS’s observation that “for too long, the federal government has used the power of the state as a weapon against people of faith” also backfired.
“Especially if they’re Muslim,” tweeted @ash_london. “Although I don’t think they’re the ones being protected here. Just an inkling I get.”