Trump, Rubio Row over Islam ’Hate’

Local Editor

Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio has attacked Donald Trump for saying that Islam hates America, in a televised debate in Miami.

Rubio, who faces a do-or-die contest in Florida on Tuesday, said Islam had a problem with radicalisation but said that many Muslims were proud Americans.

"Presidents can't just say whatever they want. It has consequences," he said, to cheers from the audience.
The four Republicans heeded pleas from party leaders to have a civil debate.

Unlike in the last TV event, which was littered with personal insults, this one was more substantive with a focus on policy.

"So far, I cannot believe how civil it's been up here," Trump observed at one point.

But on the issue of Islam, there was clear distance between Trump and the others - all three of his rivals disagreed with him that the families of terrorists should be killed.

Trump stood by comments he made earlier in the day when he said "I think Islam hates us, there's a tremendous hatred", and railed against political correctness.

But Rubio said: "I'm not interested in being politically correct. I'm interested in being correct."

Five large US states go to the polls on Tuesday to vote for their preferred presidential candidate in each party, with Ohio Governor John Kasich and the Florida senator, Rubio, under pressure to win their home states, reports the BBC.

Trump picked up a key endorsement of Ben Carson, who last week dropped out of the race, hours before the debate.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team