Scottish Muslims have invited Donald Trump to visit a mosque and learn about their faith during his visit to Scotland this month in the hope of changing his views. The presumptive Republican US presidential candidate, whose mother was Scottish, last year proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States as a response to Islamist attacks in Paris and California, causing a furor in Europe.
Accepting a visit to learn about the Muslim commmunity might help show that he is not so extreme, Edinburgh Central Mosque Imam Yayha Barry told Reuters.
“I would say: ‘Hi Donald, we’re Muslims, welcome to our mosque! Do you still see Muslims as a threat to Western civilizations?’” he said.
Separately, Republican Paul Ryan said Trump made a “textbook racist comment” when he suggested a Mexican-American judge was biased against him.
Ryan, who agreed last week to support Trump’s candidacy, said he should withdraw the comments, the BBC reported.
Trump said his comments had been “misconstrued” as a broad attack on people of Mexican heritage. The row came as Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was reported to have secured her party’s nomination. However, her rival Bernie Sanders said it was too early to call the result.
Trump had said that US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a lawsuit against the now defunct Trump University, would not treat him fairly because he was a Mexican opposed to his plans to build a wall between the US and Mexico.
“Claiming a person can’t do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment. I think that should be absolutely disavowed. It’s absolutely unacceptable,” said Ryan.
Meanwhile, an European commissioner said Wednesday It would be “extremely difficult” for the European Union to work with Trump if the Republican wins the US presidential race in November.
Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said that while the EU had not taken an official position on whether to back Trump or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, he hoped a Trump presidency “could be avoided.”
“When I see Donald Trump, I see the face of a populist and I see words which are criticized by members of the Republican Party, and not just any members,” he said.

Source: Arab News