Russell Simmons slams Donald Trump’s ‘un-American’ rhetoric about Muslims

Entrepreneur and activist Russell Simmons hit out at Republican nominee Donald Trump on Monday for his comments on Muslims, saying his rhetoric is “un-American.”

“Muslims should be treated fairly, and we shouldn’t demonize them as Mr. Trump has done,” Simmons told Yahoo News Guest Anchor Alexis Christoforous. “The Republican Party should be ashamed of their support of him. They are supporting ideas that are un-American, and should be off-limits to a major American political party.”

The businessman and chairman of the Foundation of Ethnic Understanding also commented on Trump’s continuing feud with Khizr Khan, the Muslim American lawyer who gave a now famous speech in which he sharply criticized Trump at the Democratic National Convention last week.

Khan, whose son was killed while fighting in the Iraq War, said Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States showed his broader lack of empathy.

“I think his speech was accurate,” Simmons said of Khan, adding that it underscored the contributions that Muslim Americans lend to American society domestically and abroad in the fight against terror. “Fighting Islamophobia should be part of the American Dream. America is built on tolerance of religions and tolerance in general.”

While Simmons said he “can’t imagine” Trump beating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, he expressed fear that the business mogul’s rhetoric could inflame discrimination and hatred towards Muslim Americans.

“The Muslim communities in America have been demonized by Donald Trump,” he said. “His whole hateful campaign, even when he is defeated in a landslide, has opened the door to hateful speech. … What he has done has allowed Americans to say things that are festering deep in their hearts that they could never say.”

Simmons is championing a new FFEU program designed to fight the kind of rhetoric he says Trump espouses. The effort, which would include television advertisements and a social media campaign, is designed to educate Americans on the peaceful beliefs of Muslims in the face of connotations with terrorism.

“We keep saying ‘Islam’ as if they are partners in this horrible wave of terror,” Simmons said. “I would suggest they are not. The Muslim community is a peaceful community. I think the American people can see that.”