Jimmy Kimmel Calls Donald Trump's Muslim Ban is 'un-American' to His Face [Video]
Jimmy Kimmel didn't hesitate to challenge Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about his xenophobic and anti-immigrant comments on Wednesday night.
During Trump's appearance on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the late night talk show host questioned whether Trump's call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. is "un-American and wrong."
"Did anyone try to talk you out of saying we should temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States?" asked the comedian.
In response, the GOP presidential front-runner doubled down on his anti-Muslim proposal, arguing the U.S. government needs to crackdown on foreign Muslims in wake of recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. He also regurgitated the classic I-have-Muslim-friends line in his defense.
"I have many, many friends who are Muslim, and they're great people," Trump said. "I will tell you some of them aren't so thrilled with what I said, but many of them called me and they said, 'You know, Donald, you're right. We have a problem.'"
"But isn't it un-American and wrong to discriminate against people based on their religion?" Kimmel said as the audience applauded.
The billionaire businessman replied by insisting his controversial message has resonated with Americans in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks.
"The people that are friends of mine that called, they said, 'Donald, you've done us a tremendous service because we do have a problem,'" he said.
"Those may have been crank calls," Kimmel quipped. "Did you check the caller ID?"
At another point in the interview, Kimmel argued that Trump's controversial statements about Muslims could actually backfire by ostracizing Muslims and driving them to join the Islamic State, or ISIS. However, the real estate mogul said he doesn't buy that argument.
Kimmel also challenged Trump's statement about deporting nearly 12 millions of undocumented immigrants who currently reside on U.S. soil. The comedian even used his Mexican-American sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, who immigrated to the U.S. illegally, as a reference.
"Thank God he went through the process ... I mean, first of all, he's adorable," Kimmel said. "But don't we want people who want to be here so badly that they will risk everything to be in America and to be an American?"
Trump replied saying that he has employed thousands of Hispanics and that he wants to build a wall on the Southern border that will include a "big beautiful door" for people who migrate to the country legally.
Watch clips of Donald Trump's interview with Jimmy Kimmel below:
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