Donald Trump claims 'assimilation' among Muslim Americans is close to 'nonexistent'

Donald Trump suggested few Muslim-Americans assimilate and that a "percentage" are instead filled with "hate."
(Image credit: Getty Images)
By The Week Staff
published

During an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Donald Trump suggested that most Muslims coming to the U.S. aren't even trying to fit into American culture. "Assimilation has been very hard. It's almost, I won't say nonexistent, but it gets to be pretty close. I'm talking about second- and third-generation. They come, they don't — for some reason there's no assimilation," Trump said. Hannity had asked the presumptive Republican presidential nominee how America can ascertain whether an immigrant is coming to the U.S. "for freedom or [wants] to indoctrinate and bring theocracy with them."

A lack of assimilation wasn't the only argument Trump made for his proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S., which he has renewed in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting Sunday that left 49 dead. The presumptive GOP nominee also claimed that the more Muslim immigrants allowed into the U.S., the greater the risk of potential jihadists. "There is a percentage of people that want to do what this maniac did in Orlando," Trump said. "There's a percentage of people. That percentage becomes — the number of people become more and more as we take in thousands and thousands of more people. There's a hate that's going on that's unbelievable. Okay? Unbelievable. They don't mind dying. That's a hate that's going on that's unbelievable. And we allow it to happen."

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