Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump suggested during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday that the United States should "strongly consider" closing some mosques as part of its efforts to prevent extremist attacks in the U.S.
He claims this is necessary because, according to him, a lot of the planning that goes into these attacks is done at mosques.
"You're going to have to watch and study the mosques, because a lot of talk is going on in the mosques," Trump said in light of Friday's horrific attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people, according to AFP.
His sentiments were echoed by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls who said Monday that radical mosques and groups that attack the country's values should be shut down. When asked if he would close down mosques if he became president, Trump said it's something to "strongly consider."
"I would hate to do it but it's something that you're going to have to strongly consider," he said, according to The Washington Post. "Because some of the ideas and some of the hatred, the absolute hatred, is coming from these areas."
He noted that previous New York administrations had conducted surveillance on Muslim places of worship, particularly after the Sept. 11, 2001, and suggested that such monitoring should be resumed.
This isn't the first time Trump has made such declarations, either. In October, Trump came out in support of British Prime Minister David Cameron's proposal to shutter mosques if a worshipper is found to be linked to ISIS.
"I think it's great," Trump said on Fox Business when asked if he would do the same in America, according to The Daily Beast.
Though not going so far as to openly recommend mosque closures, some of Trump's Republican rivals have come out staunchly opposed to allowing Syrian refugees into the United States in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, citing security concerns.
Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum all declared that Syrian refugees shouldn't be admitted to the U.S., and Marco Rubio, who was notable for being open to taking in refugees, backtracked on his stance recently, also saying the U.S. should no longer accept them.
