Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he would support legislation prohibiting Sharia law in the United States, arguing that the country must have only one legal system.
Trump made the remarks during an interview with conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck, who asked whether he would push for or sign what Beck described as a “no Sharia law act for America”.
“Yeah, I would say two things. Number one, on Sharia law, I would absolutely say that it’s not this country; it’s no Sharia law,” Trump replied.
The President claimed that Sharia law was already being followed in some parts of the United States. He did not identify the places or provide evidence supporting the assertion.
“And you do have pockets of it, as you know. I would say no,” Trump said.
Trump also pointed to European capitals as he argued against allowing Islamic religious law to operate alongside the US legal system.
“And you go to London, you go to Paris, it’s almost like a second way of life. It’s ridiculous,” he said.
The President told Beck that he would support a prohibition, framing the issue as one of common sense rather than political ideology.
“And I would absolutely be on your side on that, or on a lot of other people’s side too, because you know, you are — You and I have people that I think we’re — we’re more based on common sense than we are on ideology,” Trump said.
“It’s all about — good politics is all about common sense anyway, but I would absolutely prohibit the Sharia law thing, and it is happening in this country a little bit,” he added.
Trump did not spell out whether he would seek new federal legislation, issue an executive order or support an existing congressional proposal. He also did not explain how such a prohibition would be structured.
The President said authorities would act wherever they found Sharia law being applied.
“And where we see it, we take it out, and you have to take it out,” he said. “You have one system. We have a great system. Sometimes it’s very frustrating, but it’s the best there is, that I can see.”
Beck’s question linked Sharia law with what he called the “Red Green Alliance” between Islam and democratic socialists. He also asked Trump how Republicans could respond to young Americans concerned about the cost of living.
Trump turned to the affordability issue and blamed Democrats for high prices, saying his administration had inherited severe inflation.
“Uh, as far as the affordability, so affordability is interesting because the Democrats caused affordability. I took over, everything was high,” Trump said.
He cited the prices of fuel, groceries and eggs, and maintained that his administration had brought them down substantially. He also said beef prices were beginning to decline.
“I inherited high prices, I’ll put it a different way, and we’ve really gotten them down,” Trump said. “And now beef is starting to come down. You know, the meats, the beef is starting to come down.”
