“I can tell you that the Muslim community is one of our greatest partners in our fight against terrorism, and public safety generally, and so no, we do not believe that we need to step up patrols of Muslim communities,” she said.

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Cruz has been drawing criticism since he issued a statement in the wake of the Brussels attacks Tuesday saying: “We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”

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Cruz’s campaign spokeswoman also criticized New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) for his efforts to strengthen ties with the American Muslim community, including the disbanding of a plainclothes detectives unit that mapped and spied on Muslim businesses and mosques.

President Obama has said Cruz’s plan “makes no sense.” New York Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said he took “great offense” to Cruz’s characterization of Muslims. And Jonathan A. Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement that “demonizing all Muslims is a misguided and counterproductive response”

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A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations called Cruz’s comments “really beyond belief.”

“In normal times, this would be the sort of thing that would disqualify someone from running for dogcatcher, much less president of the United States,” the spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, said.

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Cruz has defended himself, saying on NBC’s Today show: “What I’m talking about is focusing law enforcement and national security resources on areas, on locations where there is a higher incidence of radical Islamic terrorism.”