2016ers respond to Donald Trump's call to shut down Muslim entry into U.S.
There has been a rapid response from the 2016 field -- Republicans and Democrats -- to Donald Trump's call to close the U.S. to Muslims. On Monday afternoon, his campaign released a policy statement saying, "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
John Kasich responded in a statement, saying, "This is just more of the outrageous divisiveness that characterizes his every breath and another reason why he is entirely unsuited to lead the United States."
Jeb Bush cast doubt on Trump's mental state in a tweet.
Donald Trump is unhinged. His "policy" proposals are not serious.
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) December 7, 2015
Ben Carson, also issued a statement: "Everyone visiting our country should register and be monitored during their stay as is done in many countries. I do not and would not advocate being selective on one's religion."
On the radio in an interview with Michael Medved, Chris Christie said, "[T]his is the kind of thing that people say when they have no experience and don't know what they're talking about."
Marco Rubio tweeted:
I disagree with Donald Trump's latest proposal. His habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 8, 2015
Ted Cruz, who is leading in one Iowa poll released Monday, told CNN, "That is not my policy."
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton sent out a tweet:
This is reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive. @RealDonaldTrump, you don't get it. This makes us less safe. -H https://t.co/SjAqL0clHd
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 7, 2015
Bernie Sanders issued a statement accusing Trump of demagoguery. "Trump and others want us to hate all Muslims. The United States is a great nation when we stand together. We are a weak nation when we allow racism and xenophobia to divide us," he wrote.
And after Trump's spokesperson said that Trump also included Muslim-Americans in his statement, Martin O'Malley said in an interview on MSNBC, "Who is he going to start with? Is he going to start with Muslim-Americans in our armed forces? They can't come home? Who is he talking about? Is he talking about engineers that do business abroad? It's just outrageous behavior. It is the sort of demagoguery that oftentimes precedes fascism."
CBS News' Alan He, Sopan Deb, Erica Brown, Sean Gallitz and Hannah Fraser-Chanpong contributed to this report.