The White House Says Donald Trump’s Stance On Muslims Entering The U.S. ‘Disqualifies’ Him From Being President

According to a statement issued by a White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Tuesday, Donald Trump’s stance on banning Muslims from entering the United States “disqualifies” him from becoming president. Currently the front-runner for the Republican nomination, on Monday Trump released a statement calling for the U.S. to refuse all attempts from foreign Muslims to enter the country. Many candidates, including those also running for the Republican nomination, have come out to condemn Trump’s proposal.

“The fact is what Donald Trump said yesterday disqualifies him from serving as president,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in Tuesday’s press briefing. For a White House administration to so heavily weigh in on an opposing party’s nominating contest is a highly unusual step.

Earnest noted first that every president must take an oath to “preserve, protect and defend” the U.S. Constitution, and thus, he said, Trump would not qualify.(via)

However, Earnest went even further to state that the GOP presidential candidates as a whole should be disqualified from being able to become president due to the fact that they had all signed a pledge to support whoever is the eventual nominee, including the ever-increasing possibility that it winds up being Trump:

“For Republican candidates for president to stand by their pledge to support Mr. Trump, that in and of itself is disqualifying,” Earnest said. “The question now is about the rest of the Republican Party and whether or not they’re going to be dragged into the dustbin of history with him. And right now the current trajectory is not very good.”(via)

While Trump is not officially barred from becoming president, it appears that the growing discontent towards his running platform has not impacted his polling numbers: as of yesterday 32% of Republican voters in New Hampshire support Trump, whereas according to RealClear Politics he currently holds a 13.8% lead in the national Republican polls over the second place candidate, Ted Cruz.

[H/T CNN and RealClear Politics]