This week in the news: Ben Carson attacks Republican officials amidst talk of a brokered convention, Trump maintains popularity despite controversial statements on Muslims, San Bernardino shooters pledged allegiance to ISIS; discussed jihad for years, Canada welcomes Syrian refugees into their country.
1. Ben Carson attacks Republican officials amidst talk of a brokered convention
Republican officials discussed Thursday the possibility of having a brokered convention for the GOP presidential nomination. A brokered convention happens when no candidate gets enough delegates to secure nomination and the delegates can then be given up to other candidates. GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson accused the Republican officials of attempting to rig the campaign amidst Trump’s popularity amongst voters.
“I am prepared to lose fair and square, as I am sure is Donald. But I will not sit by and watch a theft,” Carson said. He further threatened to leave the party if this kind of behavior continued. “If this was the beginning of a plan to subvert the will of the voters and replace it with the will of the political elite, I assure you Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party.”
2. Trump maintains popularity despite controversial statements on Muslims
According to a Bloomberg Politics poll, 65 percent of Republican primary voters support Donald Trump’s position to ban all foreign Muslims from entering the U.S. One-third of these voters stated that they were “more likely to vote for him” as a result of his extreme views. However, 50 percent of the general public disagree with Trump’s opinion. Trump still maintains the lead amongst Republican presidential candidates, with 35 percent of voters in favor of him, next to Ted Cruz at 16% and Ben Carson at 13%.
3. San Bernardino shooters pledged allegiance to ISIS, discussed jihad for years
Long before the attack was carried out in San Bernardino, CA last week, the husband and wife had been talking about committing terror attacks at least two years prior, FBI says. The Intelligence found that wife Tashfeen Malik had pledged allegiance to ISIS just before the massacre and both had discussed “jihad and martyrdom” online before they married. Their neighbor Enrique Marquez had also planned an attack with them in 2012 but backed out. Marquez is charged with helping the couple buy guns.
4. Canada welcomes Syrian refugees into their country
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other government officials greet the 163 Syrians that landed on the Toronto Pearson airport Thursday night. This was the first governmental airlift designed to help meet Trudeau’s pledge to settle 10,000 Syrian refugees into Canada by the end of the year. “This is a wonderful night, where we get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult situations,” Trudeau said.
