Obama will make first visit to a U.S. mosque
- 8 years ago
President Obama plans to make his first presidential visit to an American mosque on Wednesday to deliver a message about religioustolerance — and to challenge what he sees as Republican intolerance on the campaign trail.
The president will visit theIslamic Society of Baltimore, one of the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest Muslim centers, to urge Americans to embrace the diversity of their neighbors, including the millions of Muslim citizens.
While he won’t mentionDonald Trump or any other GOP candidates by name, one top aide said,Obama wants to speak out against what he sees as a strain of Islamaphobia aimed at playing on fears of domestic terrorism.
“The kind of rhetoric that we’ve seen from Republicans didn’t just emanate from Mr. Trump,” saidJosh Earnest, the White House press secretary.
“It has,unfortunately, infected our political debate in a way that doesn’t reflect the values that are so central to the founding of our country.
The president will visit theIslamic Society of Baltimore, one of the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest Muslim centers, to urge Americans to embrace the diversity of their neighbors, including the millions of Muslim citizens.
While he won’t mentionDonald Trump or any other GOP candidates by name, one top aide said,Obama wants to speak out against what he sees as a strain of Islamaphobia aimed at playing on fears of domestic terrorism.
“The kind of rhetoric that we’ve seen from Republicans didn’t just emanate from Mr. Trump,” saidJosh Earnest, the White House press secretary.
“It has,unfortunately, infected our political debate in a way that doesn’t reflect the values that are so central to the founding of our country.