In his speech earlier this week, Trump appeared to be changing the substance of his temporary ban on Muslims’ entering the United States, switching from a religious to a geographic test.
When I’m elected I will suspend immigration from areas of the world where there’s a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies until we fully understand how to end these threats. After a full …
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
And by the way we have no choice. After a full and partial and long — really long overdue security assessment we will develop a responsible immigration policy that serves the interests and values of America.
If we are to understand this as a replacement for his original proposal to ask would-be entrants if they are Muslim and turn away those who say yes, it seems to me (as it does to Larry Kudlow) to be an improvement. But it’s also a pretty big shift away from a proposal that was crucial to Trump’s success in the primaries.