Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Monday called for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the United States, unleashing some of the most provocative and divisive remarks of his controversial presidential campaign.
The stunning statement followed last week's mass shooting in California by a Muslim couple believed to have been radicalized by extremists, and landed with a thunderclap just as fellow presidential candidates were contemplating ways to improve national security.
Trump has been increasingly virulent in his remarks targeting Muslim Americans since the deadly Paris attacks, and again in the wake of last week's shooting rampage in California, which left 14 dead and 21 wounded.
Last month, he caused a furor when he claimed he saw "thousands and thousands of people" cheering in parts of New Jersey with substantial Arab-American populations as the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11, 2001.