Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden said Monday that he wants schools in the U.S. to teach more about Islam and claimed that there is an “unconscionable rise in Islamophobia” under the Trump administration.
“I wish we taught more in our schools about the Islamic faith,” Biden, a Catholic, said during his video remarks played at the “Million Muslim Votes” summit organized by the Muslim American political action committee Emgage Action.
“I wish we talked about all the great confessional faiths. [Islam is] one of the great confessional faiths. What people don’t realize is … we all come from the same root here, in terms of our fundamental basic beliefs. I just want to thank you for giving me the opportunity for being engaged, for committing to action this November.”
Emgage Action boasts of being the “political home for Muslim Americans” and endorsed Biden in April after initial endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the Democratic presidential primary.
“Donald Trump has fanned the flames of hate in this country, across the board, through his words, his policies, his appointments, his deeds and he continues to fan those flames,” the 77-year-old Biden, who served as vice president under former President Barack Obama, said. “Under this administration, we have seen an unconscionable rise in Islamophobia, including kids being bullied at school and hate crimes in our communities.”
Biden also claimed that Trump “has named people with open Islamophobia … who have no business serving in high positions in our government to key leadership roles in our Department of Defense [and] the U.S. Agency for International Development.”
“It is an insult to our values, it weakens our standing in the world,” Biden said. “What message does this send to the rest of the world?”
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Samuel Smith
