Praising Islam as ‘one of the great confessional faiths,’ Biden pledges a better policy for Muslims and Islam in the US
Former American Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has vowed to address the needs and concerns of Muslim-American communities in the U.S. once he becomes president during an online summit hosted by the organization “Emgage Action.”
Biden's remarks came on Monday after several prominent Muslim-American leaders endorsed him for president.
Praising Islam as “one of the great confessional faiths,” Biden told attendees of the Million Muslim Votes that he wished U.S. schools taught more about Islam.
“One of the things I think is important, I wish we taught more in our schools about the Islamic faith,” he said, blaming President Trump for “fanning the flames of hate.”
“A hadith from the Prophet Muhammad instructs, ‘Whomever among you sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand,’” Biden quoted. “‘If he is not able, then with his tongue. If he is not able, then with his heart.’”
The 77-year-old leader vowed to repeal the Trump administration’s three-year-old travel ban that primarily target Muslim-majority countries, in what he described as "vile."
“If I have the honor of being president, I will end the Muslim ban on day one, day one,” he pledged.
Trump’s executive order, often described as a "Muslim ban," was imposed soon after he took office in January 2017 and limited visits from folks traveling to the U.S. from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela.
"Muslim communities were the first to feel Donald Trump’s assault on Black and brown communities in this country with his vile Muslim ban," Biden added.
Denouncing Trump's treatment of religious minorities, Biden promised to appoint Muslim personnel in his would-be administration and work with Congress to pass stalled hate crime legislations if elected to the Oval Office in November.
Biden faces President Donald Trump, a Republican, in the Nov. 3 election. The former vice president leads in national opinion polls.
If Trump is unseated in November he will be the first single-term president since George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992.
