Islam hates US ‘tremendously’, says Trump

Donald Trump, US Republican front-runner, says there is a tremendous hatred in Islam, and he has called on the media to get to the root of the hatred.

Speaking one-on-one with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Trump said the United States could not afford to let people with such hatred come into the country.

“I think Islam hates us. There’s a tremendous hatred there; we have to get to the bottom of it. There is an unbelievable hatred of us in it,” he said.

When asked if the hate was “in Islam itself,” Trump went on to say it was for the media to figure out.

“You’re going to have to figure that out, OK? You’d get another Pulitzer, but you’re gonna have to figure that out. But there is a tremendous hatred, and we have to be very vigilant.

“We have to be very careful, we can’t allow people come into this country with hatred of the United States”.

Trump maintained his hard talk against radical Islam, but said it is very hard to draw a distinction between radical Islamic terrorism and the religion itself.

“It’s very hard to define. It’s very hard to separate. Because you don’t know who’s who.”

The Republican politician, who has never contested for a US public office until now, had called for a temporary ban on Muslims coming into the United States, saying: “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.”

Trump has won 14 of the 20 states where the Republican primary elections have been conducted so far, with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio coming far behind him.