Obama visits Baltimore mosque in show of unity

Obama visits Baltimore mosque in show of unity

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in a way that's consistent with their heritage.  And they shouldn’t be subject to ridicule or targeting by anybody, let alone somebody who aspires to leading the country."

Those comments — and, likely, Obama's noontime speech at the Islamic Societyof Baltimore Wednesday, continue a not-so-veiled White House campaign to rebuff the campaign rhetoric of Donald Trump, whose second-place showing in the GOP presidential nomination is fueled largely by promises to conduct surveillance on mosques and ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Obama had a closed-door roundtable with 12 Muslim-American leaders Wednesday morning. They included students, activists, Quran scholars and doctors.

The Islamic Society of Baltimore, a 46-year-old mosque and Quran school in suburban Catonsville, said the president's visit "occurs amidst increased bigoted rhetoric and violence against Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Americans."

But the visit also comes at a time when Obama is reaching out to a number of faiths. Last week, he spoke about the Holocaust at the Israeli embassy in Washington, proclaiming, "I, too, am a Jew" in a sign of Christian solidarity with the Jewish people. Thursday, he'll speak at the National Prayer Breakfast, a largely Christian annual gathering in Washington.

"So I think this sort of fits in the constellation of events the president is doing to talk about religious liberty and to talk about the roll that faith plays in our public debate," Earnest said. "I think it will also be an opportunity for the President to talk about the role that faith plays even in his own life."

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