McGurk: Trump is a threat to American democracy

His outburst against Muslims has left the presidential election itself a hostage to violent events at home and abroad

Donald Trump, making increasingly incendiary speeches in his bid for the Republican party nomination for the US presidency Picture: Getty

Millions across the globe will be watching the opinion polls to see what impact Donald Trump’s call for the US to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering America has had.

Trump’s extraordinary statement is almost without precedence in western politics since World War II. One possible parallel was Enoch Powell’s infamous 1968 ‘rivers of blood’ speech on commonwealth immigration to Britain, which ultimately cast a shadow over British politics for more than a ...