Heidi M Przybyla

USA TODAY

Donald Trump may be backing off his proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. now that he considers himself the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Hillary Clinton ally.

“He may be backpedaling because he realizes how problematic his position is,” Kaine said in a Wednesday conference call with reporters in response to a question about whether Trump may be softening his stance on the controversial proposal.

Kaine and former secretary of State Madeleine Albright delivered a broader assault on a major Trump foreign policy address delivered earlier Wednesday in Washington. In the speech, Trump made only an indirect reference to his Muslim ban, which has been a highlight of his campaign stump speeches. “We must stop importing extremism through senseless immigration policies,” he said, calling for a “pause for reassessment,” before moving on to other topics.

Albright said Trump’s speech “underscored the fact that he is running the most reckless and dangerous presidential campaign in modern history.”

Trump gave “no details” about policy in his speech, said Albright. “Instead we heard a lot of tough talk, simplistic slogans and empty promises” in a speech “riddled with contradictions,” she said. She cited Trump’s vow to gain the trust of U.S. allies even as he threatened to “blackmail” them and his pledge to work with Muslim partners to thwart terrorist attacks while banning them from the country.

The most dangerous idea, said Albright, is Trump’s contention that the U.S. should be more “unpredictable” in the foreign affairs arena. “Do you actually want someone unpredictable with the nuclear codes?” she said.

Kaine pointed out that Trump’s campaign theme, “America First,” is borrowed from those who denied that Adolf Hitler posed a threat before World War II. “If you don’t know enough history to know that that was the movement that tried to keep the U.S. out of World War II and said the Nazis weren’t a threat to us,” he said, “that’s almost a disqualifier right there.”

“Did nobody edit it or say ‘Wait a minute, let’s check some of these facts or rethink this?'” said Kaine.