Iowa’s Sam Clovis Helped With Trump’s “Ban All Muslims” Policy

In case you haven’t heard yet, Donald Trump rolled out a new policy today he thinks will help combat terrorism in America: banning all Muslims from entering the country. Yes, even ones who are American citizens currently living or traveling abroad. He cites as his reasoning a completely debunked and discredited poll that claims large percentages of American Muslims favor Sharia law and believe violence against fellow Americans is justified. You can read the entire statement here.

Interestingly, Trump’s Muslim ban idea appears to have some roots in Iowa. Sam Clovis, who serves as a national co-chair for Trump and who helps craft policy for the campaign, told Ben Jacobs of The Guardian in an interview that the campaign had been mulling over some sort of broad Muslim policy for some time. Clovis’ idea to figure out which people are Muslims is quite simple: ask them (since apparently a terrorist wouldn’t lie). Read the entire article here, as Clovis’ quotes on the matter are fascinating, and don’t seem to indicate that the plan is very well-thought-out.

The former conservative radio talk show host has spoken often on “religious liberty” throughout his years in Iowa politics. During his failed 2014 campaign for the Republican’s U.S. Senate nomination, Clovis proclaimed he would “stand up for their religious freedoms as guaranteed to us in the Constitution.” It appears, however, he may have only been referring to Christians’ religious freedoms.

Sam Clovis once worked for Rick Perry’s presidential campaign this year, but once the Texas Governor began struggling in the polls, Clovis jumped ship for a bigger paycheck from the Trump campaign. He has also taken a leave of absence from his position as a professor at Morningside College. It will be interesting to see what the college thinks of its employee possibly being a guiding force in a presidential front-runner’s proposal to ban an entire religious group from entering America.

by Pat Rynard
Potsed 12/7/15