Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) had an unusual twist — using the attack on gays to rally the LGBT community against radical Islam:

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For all the Democrats who are loud champions of the gay and lesbian community whenever there is a culture battle waging, now is the opportunity to speak out against an ideology that calls for the murder of gays and lesbians. ISIS and the theocracy in Iran (supported with American taxpayer dollars) regularly murder homosexuals, throwing them from buildings and burying them under rocks. This is wrong, it is evil, and we must all stand against it. Every human being has a right to live according to his or her faith and conscience, and nobody has a right to murder someone who doesn’t share their faith or sexual orientation. If you’re a Democratic politician and you really want to stand for LGBT, show real courage and stand up against the vicious ideology that has targeted our fellow Americans for murder.

And as one might predict, Donald Trump was vile, first congratulating himself for getting it “right” (How? In preaching a new form of isolationism?) when it comes to Islamic terrorism. (“Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, [but?]I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!”) It is not clear exactly who would dream of congratulating him, but it speaks volumes about his narcissism when his initial reaction is about himself.

Even worse was his subsequent statement, attempting to smear all Muslims:

Because our leaders are weak, I said this was going to happen – and it is only going to get worse. I am trying to save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack. We can’t afford to be politically correct anymore. The terrorist, Omar Mir Saddique Mateen, is the son of an immigrant from Afghanistan who openly published his support for the Afghanistani Taliban and even tried to run for President of Afghanistan. According to Pew, 99% of people in Afghanistan support oppressive Sharia Law.

His insistence on making the incident, before we know any facts, a vehicle to attack Hillary Clinton is distasteful in the extreme, and symptomatic of his shoot-from-the-hip style. If Americans expect their president to be empathetic and unifying they will need to choose someone else. Trump’s narcisssism converts him into the hero of any incident and leads him both to ignore others’ grief and use tragedy for his own selfish aims. In place of wisdom and solace he offers hysteria and hate.

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Moreover, as a factual matter, the alleged shooter was born in the United States. But to Trump, any excuse to smear immigrants will suffice. In addition, treating all of Afghanistan, an ally in the war on terrorism, as somehow culpable is both idiotic and dangerous. Most Afghans are pro-America and have been fighting the war against the rule of the Taliban; why Trump would want to insult them is a mystery.

Trump has no cogent policy, of course. “If your uncle said the best way to stop ISIS is to bomb Middle Eastern oil reserves and ban Muslims, you’d hide the Budweiser from him,” says foreign policy adviser John Noonan.”But that lunacy is the Republican nominee for president’s national security plan.” Noonan remarks, “Trump says we have to be smart and tough to beat ISIS. If that load of fertilizer is ‘smart and tough,’ then I’m playing shortstop for the Mets, and I’ll sell you the bridge to the stadium.”

Trump’s contention that Clinton wants to bring in “hundreds of thousands” of immigrants is also false, as is his contention that we “have no way to screen them, pay for them, or prevent the second generation from radicalizing.” By the time Trump gets through insulting all Muslims and refusing to show common cause with the Muslim victims of Islamic terrorism, we’ll have no allies left. Domestically, he’ll have alienated and enraged peaceful Muslim Americans who must help identify and prevent radicalization.

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“How exactly is Donald Trump proposing we save people from radical Islamic terrorism? By barring the immigrants who didn’t commit this act?” queries Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute. “By labeling terrorism what it is? This isn’t policy, it’s just ranting. And last time I checked, the ability to rant wasn’t a qualification for president of the United States.”

Now Clinton, in a vague but somber statement, and the president both refused to utter the words “Islamic terrorism”; this is foolish and politically unwise, only giving Trump a reason to portray them as “too politically correct.” It does not help in developing a rational, effective policy to defeat Islamic terrorism either to ignore its ideological core or paint all Muslims as terrorists. (Other Democrats, including Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), did manage in a written statement to at least acknowledge that “we as a nation ‎must resolve to stop ISIL.”)