Despite his anti-Muslim rhetoric widely condemned in the U.S., some Muslims and Sikhs in Maryland have joined the camp of Donald Trump claiming that the Republican presidential frontrunner is not actually against their communities.
Members of two groups – “Sikh Americans for Trump” and “Muslim Americans for Trump” – whose members are mostly South Asians, held its first meeting in a Maryland suburb that was addressed by a representative from the Trump campaign. According to media reports, the organizers of the meeting argued that the view of Trump about minority community has been “twisted” and “taken out of context” by the mainstream media. They also said that the billionaire real estate magnet would create more jobs in the country which would benefit the minorities.
“He (Trump) is not at all against the Sikhs or the Muslim community. What he says is given spin. The mainstream media gives a spin because they are scared of him. He is not the status quo. He is not taking anybody’s money,” Jasdip Singh, who helped organize the “Sikh Americans for Trump” in Maryland, was quoted as saying in a news agency report widely published in Indian newspapers.
A prominent member of the Sikh community, Singh is chairman of the Maryland governor’s Commission on South Asian Affairs and chairman of the Board of Sikh Associations of Baltimore. He said when Trump talks about Muslims, he does not talk about all Muslims or American Muslims. “He spoke in the context of the refugee crisis that was happening in Syria. We (Sikhs) agree with him. Muslim Americans agree with him that we should not bring people into this country before we can vet them. And this was a temporary measures proposed by him,” Singh said.
Trump is not againt the minorities, he said, adding that he believes that his presidency will be good for India.
Sajid Tarar, a Pakistani-American, who helped organize the Muslim Americans for Trump, said that of all the presidential candidates, Trump is the only one who has achievements to show.
“We believe, he has the ability and capacity to change America. He has built a huge empire. He is self-funding the campaign. There is no special interest behind him,” Tarar said. “There is a war going on against Trump. Every message and speech of his has been twisted,” he said referring to the Trump’s call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country.
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