{"id":3372,"date":"2015-12-09T09:07:42","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T17:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/trumps-muslim-ban-idea-pushes-gop-toward-chaos\/"},"modified":"2015-12-09T09:07:42","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T17:07:42","slug":"trumps-muslim-ban-idea-pushes-gop-toward-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/trumps-muslim-ban-idea-pushes-gop-toward-chaos\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s Muslim ban idea pushes GOP toward chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

WA<\/strong>SHINGTON<\/strong> \u2014 Donald Trump\u2019s plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States is shoving the Republican Party to the edge of chaos, abruptly pitting GOP leaders against their own presidential front-runner and jeopardizing the party\u2019s longtime drive to attract minorities.<\/p>\n

Unbowed, Trump fired a searing warning Tuesday via Twitter to fellow Republicans carping about his proposal. A majority of his supporters, he tweeted, \u201cwould vote for me if I departed the GOP & ran as an independent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crossfire between Trump and frustrated Republicans became a furious blur the day after the billionaire businessman announced his plan. Beleaguered 2016 rivals condemned his proposal and complained that his divisive positions were dominating attention in the crowded Republican contest. Party elders, meanwhile, warned that too much criticism might indeed push him to abandon the GOP and launch a third-party bid that could hand the presidential election to the Democrats.<\/p>\n

And Republicans up for re-election in the Senate grew terse in the Capitol hallways as they were asked again and again to respond to Trump\u2019s remarks \u2014 a glimpse of their political futures if the former reality show star captures the GOP nomination.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not conservatism,\u201d declared House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican Party\u2019s top elected leader. \u201cWhat was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for. And more importantly, it\u2019s not what this country stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n

One by one, Republican officials across the country lashed out at Trump\u2019s plan, announced the night before, which calls for a \u201ctotal and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States\u201d to help quell the threat of terrorism.<\/p>\n

But party leaders are well aware that he could leave the GOP, run as an independent and challenge the party\u2019s presidential nominee next year. It\u2019s a threat they have long feared.<\/p>\n

The Republican Party, said Jeb Bush adviser Ana Navarro, is stuck between \u201ca rock and a jerk\u201d less than eight weeks before the first primary-season votes are cast in Iowa.<\/p>\n

In New Hampshire, Republican National Committeeman Steve Duprey called Trump\u2019s idea \u201cabhorrent.\u201d At the same time, he reminded Trump of his Republican loyalty pledge, saying, \u201cI know him to be a man of his word.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in Mississippi, RNC member Henry Barbour said Trump\u2019s comments \u201caren\u2019t worthy of someone who wants to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.\u201d He said Trump would be a \u201cdisaster politically for the GOP if he won the nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s embarrassing at best,\u201d Barbour said of Trump\u2019s impact on his party.<\/p>\n

Barbour helped author the Republican National Committee\u2019s \u201cGrowth and Opportunity Project\u201d after a painful 2012 presidential election that forced party leaders to re-evaluate their strategy in presidential contests to reflect the nation\u2019s demographic shifts. Among other things, the report cited an urgent need for GOP leaders to adopt an inclusive and welcoming tone on issues such as immigration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want ethnic minority voters to support Republicans, we have to engage them and show our sincerity,\u201d it read, noting that white voters made up a record-low 72 percent of the electorate in 2012 and would represent less than half of all voters by 2050.<\/p>\n

Yet Trump has vaulted to the top of the Republican 2016 field by attacking immigrants in many cases.<\/p>\n

He called some Mexican immigrants \u201crapists\u201d and \u201ccriminals\u201d in his announcement speech and intensified his criticism of Muslim immigrants or visitors Monday evening. While experts widely consider his proposal unconstitutional, Trump\u2019s continued popularity underscores the deep divide between Republican leaders and the party\u2019s conservative base, which holds outsized influence in the presidential nomination process.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Trump\u2019s plan was cheered during a South Carolina rally Monday evening, and vocal supporters across the country defended the Muslim ban as necessary for national security. Polling suggests the sentiment is likely fueled by sharp strain of xenophobia: A new AP-GfK poll found 8 in 10 Republicans think there are too many immigrants coming from the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Trump showed little concern for critics on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care about them,\u201d he told CNN. \u201cI\u2019m doing what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The debate over Trump\u2019s plan left his Republican presidential competitors struggling for attention with little time remaining before Iowa\u2019s Feb. 1 caucuses.<\/p>\n

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie\u2019s calls on Tuesday for Congress to strengthen the nation\u2019s domestic surveillance program was little more than a coverage afterthought amid the wave of Trump stories.. So, too, was a new advertising campaign from allies of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that assailed Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as unprepared to serve as commander in chief.<\/p>\n

Former technology executive Carly Fiorina flashed her frustration when asked repeatedly about Trump\u2019s comments as she campaigned in Iowa.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you should quit focusing on Donald Trump so much,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s position has also forced vulnerable Republicans facing re-election next year into an awkward position. Those who weighed in at all condemned his plan but also stepped carefully.<\/p>\n

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte said she opposes any \u201creligious-based test for our immigration standards,\u201d but she declined to criticize Trump directly when pressed by reporters.<\/p>\n

Some Republicans not facing election next year were less cautious.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does not reflect serious thought. It\u2019s not our party. It\u2019s not our country,\u201d Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. told reporters.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP writers Erica Werner and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington, Catherine Lucey in Des Moines, Iowa, Jill Colvin in Newark, New Jersey, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Donald Trump\u2019s plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States is shoving the Republican Party to the edge of chaos, abruptly pitting GOP leaders against their own presidential front-runner and jeopardizing the party\u2019s longtime drive to attract minorities. Unbowed, Trump fired a searing warning Tuesday via Twitter to fellow Republicans carping about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":3373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-3372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3372"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}