Trump says McCain, Graham are eager to start World War III

 

US President Donald Trump has lashed out at Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham for criticizing his immigration policies, saying they “always” look to start a world war.

Trump made the remarks in a number of tweets on Sunday evening, shortly after the two senators published a joint statement against his recent directive to ban the people of seven Muslim majority countries from entering America.

“The joint statement of former presidential candidates John McCain & Lindsey Graham is wrong - they are sadly weak on immigration,” Trump said.

“The two ... Senators should focus their energies on ISIS, illegal immigration and border security instead of always looking to start World War III,” he added, using an acronym for Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.

The new Republican president’s order imposes a 90-day ban on entry from citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia, blocks refugees from Syria indefinitely, and suspends all refugee admissions for 120 days.

McCain and Graham said in their statement that the executive order, which was signed by Trump on Friday, helps terrorists.

“This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security,” the statement read.

The sweeping ban led to confusion and anger at major US airports this weekend after border agents began detaining refugees and immigrants upon arrival.

The two lawmakers argued that the chaos at the airports showed the directive was not “properly vetted.”

“We are particularly concerned by reports that this order went into effect with little to no consultation with the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security,” they went on.

Trump’s tweets came almost at the same time as a White House statement, where Trump claimed that the ban “is not about religion.” The Manhattan billionaire also denied that the ban was the one he had proposed as a candidate last year.