A US Muslim woman who was ejected from a Donald Trump rally in South Carolina while engaging in a silent protest said on Saturday she wanted to make the Republican presidential candidate's backers recognise they are supporting “hateful rhetoric”.
Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old flight attendant from North Carolina, stood up silently in the stands directly behind Trump during Friday night’s rally when the billionaire businessman suggested that refugees fleeing violence in Syria were affiliated with Islamic State militants.
“I get why he's popular: he's an entertainer, he's engaging, there are certainly aspects that appeal to certain parts of society. He even has valid points in some cases,” Hamid said in a telephone interview with Reuters from her home in Charlotte.
“But they have to recognise what they're supporting,” Hamid said, referring to Trump's supporters. “His ramping up of his hateful rhetoric is just not what America is, and it's not who we are as a country.”
At the rally, Hamid was wearing a white head scarf and a blue T-shirt made by her son emblazoned with the words, “Salam, I come in peace.”
Hamid, who called herself a registered Democrat, said she came to the rally because she had a day off from work and wanted Trump supporters to meet a Muslim in real life. Hamid said she told herself she would stand up quietly if Trump said anything hateful about any group, not just Muslims.