Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow H.A. Hellyer writes for The National on international news coverage of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comment that Muslims should be barred from entering the United States, and the damaging implications of such comments:
Domestic issues in the United States often make the pages of the world’s press, but that coverage is not always warranted. However, when a front-runner in the presidential race decides to use toxic rhetoric, it becomes wholly justified. The potential damage of such statements is not limited to the US: it extends far beyond.
Many may make the error of considering that Donald Trump is a marginal figure and thus ought not to be taken seriously. That would be a grave error.