51 lawmakers call for banning Trump from entering Jordan

AMMAN — A group of MPs on Sunday called on the government to ban US presidential hopeful Donald Trump from entering Jordan, citing the Republican candidate's anti-Muslim comments.

In a memorandum submitted to the Lower House speaker, 51 deputies expressed strong denouncement and refusal of Trump's "fanatic" remarks which, they said, "ignite radicalism and terror and harm Jordanian-US relations and Washington's ties with Islamic countries".

In the memo, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times, the signatories called on Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh to send an official letter to the US embassy in Amman expressing rejection of Trump's "anti-Muslim" tirade.

They also called for banning the real estate mogul from entering Jordan, describing him as "racist". 

Trump recently called for a "total and complete shutdown" of the entry of Muslims to the US "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on".

In an expression of wrath towards the recent California terror attack, the reality TV star argued that anyone belonging to the Islamic faith should be considered a potential threat.

Trump this week denied an Associated Press report that he planned to visit Jordan at the end of December.

The AP report was published one day after Trump's controversial proposal to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

Trump tweeted, “Despite my great respect for King Abdullah II, I will not be visiting Jordan at this time. This is in response to the false @AP report.”