Donald Trump uses Florida rally to incorrectly blame foreign born Muslims over Pulse shooting
President-elect Donald Trump has used a rally in Florida to attack non-US born “radical Islamic terrorists” in relation to the Pulse nightclub shooting.
HIs comments come despite that Pulse shooter Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people and injured 53 more, was born in Queens, and not outside of the US.
Trump said in his speech: “Let me keep this as clearly as I can: I am going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.”
He went on to say that he plans to suspend immigration in areas where people entering the US “cannot be safely processed” using “extreme vetting”.
Trump also used the speech in Orlando in front of 11,000 people, to thank Florida, a state which he won in November.
“I’m here today for one main reason, to say ‘thank you’ to the incredible people of Florida,” Trump told revelers.
“In many ways, Florida is my second home. In many ways, it’s my first home,” he added.
“You were nasty and mean and vicious, and you wanted to win,” he said of predictions that he would not win in Florida. “Now, the same crowd … You’re laid back and mellow and basking in the glory of victory.”
Trump is still yet to visit the site of the Pulse shooting which saw 49 people killed.
Dozens of friends and family members of the 49 people shot and killed in the Pulse shooting, as well as survivors of the mass shooting, attended the site of the incident last Monday.
Gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 in the terrorist hate crime attack, which saw Mateen open fire inside the Pulse gay bar in Orlando, Florida.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which was perpetrated by US citizen Omar Mateen. The majority of the victims were Latino.
President Obama mourned the victims of the homophobic hate crime attack and called for greater restrictions on arms sales.
Millions of people around the world have showed solidarity with the victims of the shooting and the community in Orlando.
Omar Mateen’s first wife, Sitora Yusufiy, said that Mateen was “gay” and carried out the attack to “impress his father.”
The city of Orlando announced plans to purchase the Pulse nightclub and turn it into a permanent memorial to the victims of the mass shooting earlier this year, but the plans have since fallen through after the club’s owner backed out.
