Trump to stick with Muslim ban

Donald Trump stood by his call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. Wednesday, saying he doesn’t care if it hurts him in the general election.

“I don’t care if it hurts me,” the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday. “I’m doing the right thing when I do this. And whether it’s Muslim or whether it’s something else, I mean, I have to do the right thing, and that’s the way I’ve been guided.”

{mosads}“And I’ve been guided by common sense, by what’s right,” he continued. “And you see what’s happening. We have to be careful. I mean, we’re allowing thousands of people to come into our country, thousands and thousands of people being placed all over the country that frankly nobody knows who they are. They don’t have documentation in many cases — in most cases.  And we don’t know what we’re doing.”

Trump initially called for a blanket ban on all Muslims entering the country in December, following mass shootings carried out by terrorists in Paris and Southern California.

He later softened his position, saying leaders of Muslim nations and U.S. citizens who are Muslim would be allowed to enter the country. 

Trump’s call for the ban was widely criticized by members of both parties, but it also was popular with the public. His position in the GOP primary race strengthened in the weeks after his proposal.

Trump moved a step closer to becoming the GOP nominee Tuesday when he won the Indiana primary and rival Ted Cruz suspended his campaign.