Faith and community groups on Wednesday urged presidential candidates to stop the anti-Muslim comments.
They specifically noted the actions of Republicans Donald Trump, the current front-runner who is scheduled to visit Oklahoma City on Friday, and Ben Carson, who is No. 2 in the latest polls.
At a recent town hall meeting in New Hampshire, Trump did not correct a questioner who said President Barack Obama is a Muslim and not an American. Obama is a Christian who was born in Hawaii.
“We have a problem in this country,” the man said. “It is called Muslims. We know our current president is one. You know he is not even an American.”
“We need this question,” Trump replied.
“But anyway,” the man continued. “We have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That is my question. When can we get rid of them?”
“We are going to be looking at a lot of different things,” Trump said. “And you know a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying bad things are happening out there. We are going to be looking at that and plenty of other things.”
Trump later said he would welcome Muslims in his administration, that he loved Muslims and that he did not have to defend Obama.
Meanwhile, Carson recently said he would not advocate that a Muslim be in charge of the nation. He said he would make an exception only for a Muslim who denounced Sharia law.
Adam Soltani, executive director of CAIR Oklahoma, said the comments promote Islamophobia.
“Today, we come together as a collation of community and interfaith organizations,” he said. “We stand here in solidarity to call upon all of our presidential candidates to drop the Islamophobic, hateful and divisive rhetoric. We ask them instead to focus their efforts in ways in which we can promote peace, inclusion and accept the future of our country as a pluralistic and diverse nation.
“We call upon those who seek the highest office in our country to stop spreading fear about a group of people who are a vital part of the fabric of America.”
Bill Tabbernee, executive director of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, called the comments by Trump and Carson “horrific, horrible and wrong.”
“We need our presidential candidates to be role models, not fearmongers,” Tabbernee said.
Prior to his comments about Muslims, Trump was criticized for comments he made about Mexicans.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he said. “They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
Fredy Valencia, an organizer with Dream Act Oklahoma, said his organization is planning a protest during Trump’s visit. The protest will occur at 4 p.m. Friday outside of the Oklahoma State Fair before Trump speaks. The protest will be peaceful, he said.
His organization advocates for the rights of Hispanics and the undocumented community.
“The comments Mr. Trump has made have been very detrimental to our community,” Valencia said.
The organization expects several hundred people to attend the protest, Valencia said.