Dawn.com, Washington :Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric is not only shameful and offensive, it’s also dangerous, says Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate for the 2016 US presidential election.The former secretary of state told CNN’s Democratic town hall in Iowa on Monday night that Mr Trump, the Republican front-runner, suffered from “Islamophobia”.Mrs Clinton blasted Mr Trump for his anti-Muslim views when a Muslim veteran of the US Air Force, Erum Tariq-Munir, explained how such views hurt her. “Specifically, as a mother of three young children, as an American Muslim, how can I make sure that this country is the best place on earth to raise my family?” she asked.After thanking Mrs Tariq-Munir for her service, Mrs Clinton said: “One of the most distressing aspects of this campaign has been the language of Republican candidates, particularly their front-runner, that insults, demeans, and denigrates different people.”She noted that Mr Trump’s comments on Muslims were “particularly harmful”, although he had cast a wide net, targeting all minorities. “He started on Mexicans. He’s currently on Muslims. But I found it particularly harmful the way that he has talked about Muslims – American Muslims and Muslims around the world”.Mrs Clinton has previously called his rhetoric “reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive”.She echoed these sentiments at the town hall meeting as well, saying: “It’s not only shameful and contrary to our values to say that people of a certain religion should never come to this country or to claim that there are no real people of the Muslim faith who share our values”.
