Obama takes shots at Trump-like rhetoric

President Obama took thinly veiled shots at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s extreme rhetoric and plan to keep Muslims out of America during his State of the Union on Tuesday.

In the speech, the president called for America to “reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion” to a boisterous standing ovation from lawmakers in both parties.

{mosads}“This is not a matter of political correctness,” he claimed. “It’s a matter of understanding just what it is that makes us strong. 

“When politicians insult Muslims, whether abroad or our fellow citizens, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid is called names, that doesn’t make us safer,” Obama added. “That’s not telling it like it is. It’s just wrong.

“As frustration grows, there will be voices urging us to fall back into our respective tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don’t look like us, or pray like us, or vote like we do or share the same background. We can’t afford to go down that path.”

The comments come as a rebuke to Trump, the billionaire who has stuck stubbornly to the top of Republican presidential polls.

The GOP front-runner split the nation last year by calling for the U.S. to bar Muslims from entering the country until officials can “figure out what is going on.” Since then, he has only doubled down and boasted about the proposal in his first TV ad earlier this year.

Opponents of Trump, including many Republicans, worry that the extreme rhetoric will polarize the nation and lead to ostracization of Muslims.

According to analysts, the level of intimidation and number of threats against Muslims and mosques has risen to new highs. 

That kind of rhetoric “diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals,” Obama claimed. “And it betrays who we are as a country.”

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley appeared to echo Obama’s sentiments in the Republican response to the State of the Union.

“During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices,” Haley said in prepared remarks of her address released ahead of time. “We must resist that temptation.”