Muslim Public Affairs Council challenges Trump to debate

An influential Muslim advocacy group in the United States has challenged Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump to a debate, after he made several controversial comments about Muslims.

"Ever since you announced your run for Presidency of the United States, you have scapegoated the American Muslim community and other minority groups for all your perceived ills of America," the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) wrote in a letter to the Trump campaign on Sunday.

The group also accused Trump and his supporters of being "scared of anything that is different than you."

Speaking at a rally in Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday, the Republican frontrunner told supporters about US General John Pershing executing Muslim prisoners in the Philippines in the early 20th century.

“He took 50 bullets and he dipped them in pig’s blood,” Trump said. “And he had his men load his rifles and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people. And the 50th person, he said, ‘You go back to your people and you tell them what happened.’ And for 25 years there wasn’t a problem."

“We better start getting tough and we better start getting vigilant, and we better start using our heads or we’re not gonna have a country, folks,” Trump continued. According to fact-checking websites, Trump’s tale is false. 

The Muslim advocacy group challenged the New York Billionaire to debate a representative from the American-Muslim community "on the issues" he has "raised about Islam and Muslims."

"You rely on the promotion of fear and Internet lies to fuel the flames of hate and divisiveness across our country," the letter said. "Well, we have news for you: We will no longer be bullied. We will no longer be your punching bag."

Trump, who has never held elected office, is still leading the Republican presidential primary field, despite the fact that his campaign has been marked by controversial statements, including with disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants and Muslims.

Trump says he would deport 11 million undocumented workers from the United States and would establish a “deportation force” for this purpose.

He has also promised to expel undocumented immigrants and build a wall on the US-Mexico border. In addition, he has proposed repealing the constitutional right to citizenship of anyone born on US soil.

Trump has also created a furor in the US and around the world by proposing a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the United States, following a mass shooting in California.

The New York real-estate mogul has also called for a database to track Muslims across the United States, and he has also said that the US would have "absolutely no choice" but to close down mosques.

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