Trump Muslim ban doesn’t include ‘every Muslim’

US presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the country “never included every single Muslim,” his campaign spokeswoman said on Friday.

Trump “has not backpedaled on his Muslim ban,” Katrina Pierson said in an interview with US network CNN, responding to a claims that the tycoon-turned presumptive Republican nominee had softened his stance closer to the November election.

“He said he would back off of it in an instant if things have taken place where we can properly vet individuals,” Pierson said.

Trump called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US back in December, in response to a shooting spree by two radicalized Muslims in California that killed 14 people.

In the Friday interview, Trump’s spokeswoman insisted that the ban was a “suggestion” and an “immigration policy.”

“It never included American Muslims living overseas. It never included anyone other than those looking to immigrate into this country. So even that has been total media spin and completely false.”

Media attention of Trump’s controversial proposal resurfaced after London’s newly-elected Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan had expressed worries that he would not be able to visit the United States were Trump elected in November.

Khan told Time magazine that “Trump's ignorant view of Islam could make both of our countries less safe -- it risks alienating mainstream Muslims around the world and plays into the hands of extremists.”

Trump said in response, that “there will always be exceptions,” to his proposed ban.

The shock proposal back in December was likely conceived in a “rushed fashion without any study,” Khalil Jashan, a Palestinian-American activist and pundit, told Al Arabiya English.

As Trump is now the Republican party’s all-but-certain nominee, his stances must change to gain the broader, non-party affiliated coalition needed to win November’s election.

“They all of a sudden get more responsible as they come closer to office – this is a result of pressure,” said Jahshan, who is a board member of the Washington-based Arab Center think-tank.

“He’s beginning to get flak from the leadership of the [Republican] party, and particularly members of congress.”

(Additional reporting by Paul Crompton)