WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama took a shot Friday at Newt Gingrich's suggestion of a widespread ban on Muslims after the terrorist attack in France, condemning the idea of a "religious test" that was originally proposed by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and expanded on by Gingrich.
"In the wake of last night's attacks, we've heard more suggestions that all Muslims in America be targeted, tested for their beliefs, some deported or jailed," Obama said Friday, without naming Gingrich. "The very suggestion is repugnant and an affront to everything that we stand for as Americans."
Gingrich said in the hours after the attack that killed scores in France that any Muslim who believes in Shariah law should be ejected from the U.S.
"Western civilization is in a war," Gingrich said in an interview on Fox News after the Bastille Day truck attack. "We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background. And if they believe in Shariah, they should be deported."
The assertion by Gingrich, who was on the short list to be Trump's running mate, resurrected one of Trump's most controversial proposals of the presidential campaign. After December's massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., he called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
But in an afternoon address at the White House before diplomatic officials from around the world, Obama took issue with Gingrich's amplified suggestion. He argued that nations should try to protect freedom, not surrender in fear.
"We cannot give in to fear or turn on each other or sacrifice our way of life," Obama said. "We cannot let ourselves be divided by religion because that's exactly what the terrorists want. We should never do their work for them. And here in the United States, our freedoms ... keep us strong and safe."
