WASHINGTON – DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement today after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump indicated he is open to putting Muslim Americans in databases and issuing specific identifications based on religion:

“Every American is united in wanting to keep our homeland secure and our families safe.

“Donald Trump’s openness to special identifications and a database for Muslim-Americans is beyond shameful, embodies the exclusionary culture of today’s Republican Party, and is a dangerous mindset our Greatest Generation fought and died to defeat seven decades ago.  Mr. Trump should be ashamed for proposing that America could be a place where masses of humans are gathered and classified by their religion. We cannot let our political process be driven by fear. 

“RNC Chairman Reince Priebus should retract his claim that Trump is a “net positive for everybody.” Mr. Priebus should also hold the rest of his candidates accountable, including both Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz who have called for a religious test for refugees from the Syrian civil war, and Ben Carson who said that a Muslim-American should not be allowed to become president.

“This language is not just offensive – it’s un-American, counter-productive and dangerous. Statements like these damage American credibility around the world, and act as recruiting tools for terror organizations who push the narrative that Islam is engaged in a religious war with the West. They also marginalize the millions of peaceful Muslim-Americans and our Muslim allies in the Middle East who are on the front lines of combating terrorism and who are among the most commonly targeted by terrorists abroad.

“To target Americans based on their religious beliefs is not worthy of the Party of Lincoln, and not worthy of who we are as a people. Americans deserve better than a presidential nominating contest dominated by appeals to racial intolerance and calls for legalized discrimination.”