WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama flayed Republican presidential candidates for anti-Muslim rhetoric and accused critics on Tuesday of playing into the hands of Daesh in his last State of the Union speech to Congress before leaving office next year.
In a direct slap at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, Obama said insulting Muslims hurt the United States and “betrayed” its identity.
“When politicians insult Muslims ... that doesn’t make us safer,” he said, drawing applause from the crowd in the House of Representatives chamber. “It’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals.”
Referring to Daesh, Obama said: “Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages, they pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence.”
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Obama slams rivals’ rhetoric against Muslims
Obama slams rivals’ rhetoric against Muslims
