Obama Slams Trump's 'Political Distraction' Of Labels

For a couple of days now, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been hammering President Obama for his unwillingness to use the term "radical Islam." Why that label is so important for the president to use remains a mystery.

Why the president is so determined not to use it is no mystery at all. He made that clear Tuesday in a scathing condemnation of Trump's rhetoric since the Orlando shootings. Trump has called for the president to resign, partly for not using the "radical Islam" label. And Trump has even insinuated the president may have some dark secret for refraining from the name-calling and labeling.

“If we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists’ work for them,” the president said Tuesday at the Treasury building.

On the same day a gunman killed 49 people in an Orlando gay bar, Trump congratulated himself for being "right" about attacks with connections to terrorism, and he has been bashing the president since then for not attaching the phrase "radical Islam" to his statements.

"I've never had one advisor say to me, "Man if we use this phrase, it will really turn things around,"" Obama told reporters after a national security council meeting on ISIL.

"What exactly would using this language accomplish," he questioned. "Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is none of the above."

He said his decision to not use the term, "Radical Islam" has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with defeating extremism. Obama said the effects of that kind of dangerous mindset and thinking are visible today in the kind of rhetoric used by the presumptive Republican nominee, whom he did not name.

Obama denounced Trump's proposal to ban all Muslims from the country. He mentioned that the gunman in Orlando, one of the San Bernardino shooters and the shooter in Fort Hood were all American citizens.

"Are we going to start treating all Muslim Americans differently? Place them under special surveillance? Discriminate against them because of their faith? Do Republican officials actually agree with this? Because that's not the America we want. It doesn't reflect our ideals. It makes Muslim Americans feel like their government has betrayed them," he said.

He stressed that his administration was well aware of the threat posed by ISIL and if they did not know what the threat was, it would come as a surprise to the terrorists. He talked about the men and women who risk their lives every day to protect all Americans, including "politicians who tweet" and appear on cable news shows.

"So there's no magic to the phrase 'radical Islam.' It's a political talking point. This is a political distraction," Obama said.

Touting the successes made by the United States in defeating ISIL saying that to date, more than 120 ISIL leaders had been taken out and the terrorist organization had been deprived of key resources. He said it has been about a year since ISIL has been able to mount a major offensive operation in Iraq or Syria.

On the issue of homegrown extremism, Obama called for stricter gun laws and to renew the ban on assault weapons. He once again mentioned how easy it was for people who want to kill Americans to get their hands on weapons of war.

While there is no evidence that a foreign terrorist organization carried out the attack in Orlando, the gunman took in extremist information and propaganda over the Internet and became radicalized.

Ostracizing Muslims does nothing but betray American values and by betraying those values the terrorists would have won, Obama said.

"I will not let that happen," he said.

Image Credit: Renee Schiavone