Sundar Pichai. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Google CEO Sundar Pichai just responded to Donald Trump's suggestion that Muslims be banned from entering the US.

In a blog post on Medium Friday night, Pichai wrote, "Let's not let fear defeat our values," saying that the anti-Muslim rhetoric so closely associated with Trump's presidential campaign is "disheartening."

"The open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance of new Americans is one of the country's greatest strengths and most defining characteristics," Pichai continued.

It's no coincidence, Pichai added, "America, after all, was and is a country of immigrants."

Pichai grew up in India and came to the US 22 years ago. He was named CEO of Google in August. Before that, he was in charge of all of Google's major products, including search, ads, Android, and maps.

Earlier this week, Trump proposed that Muslims should be banned from entering the US. He made those remarks in response to investigations of the San Bernardino shooting rampage, in which 14 people were killed on December 2.

A husband and wife who became "radicalized" sympathizers of militant extremists carried out the attack.

Political backfiring began almost immediately after Trump proposed the ban. Despite that, the GOP front-runner dug his heels in deeper, firing a warning shot at Republicans for criticizing him over it — while implying a potential third-party run for the White House.

That kind of scenario has worried some bigwigs in the GOP.