Donald Trump doubles down on Muslim database and suggests bringing back waterboarding.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

After pointing out that a majority of the Syrian refugees were, in fact, women and children, Stephanopoulos wondered if Trump would bring back waterboarding, which was banned by President Barack Obama. 

“We have to be strong,” the candidate insisted. “You know, they don’t use waterboarding over there, they use chopping off people’s heads, they use drowning people.” 

“I would bring it back, I think waterboarding is peanuts compared to what they do to us,” he opined. “I would absolutely bring back interrogation and strong interrogation.”

Earlier in the exchange you can her Stephanopoulos pointedly asking Trump about the Muslim database, which he had walked back earlier, and he reiterates that he "definitely wants a database and other checks and balances."

So not only would Trump be willing to single out all Muslims and force them into a database, but he also likes the idea of perhaps doing a little waterboarding if there is any suspicion of terrorist proclivities.

Gee, you would think he had a side job as a recruiter for Daesh.

Most recent polls have Trump leading the rest of the pack by ten points or more.

Donald Trump's call for a database to track Muslims takes him to a place where even Ted Cruz dares not tread.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Donald Trump "would certainly implement" a database system tracking Muslims in the United States, the Republican front-runner told NBC News on Thursday night. 

"I would certainly implement that. Absolutely," Trump said in Newton, Iowa, in between campaign town halls. 

"There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases," he added. "We should have a lot of systems." 

When asked whether Muslims would be legally obligated to sign into the database, Trump responded, "They have to be — they have to be."

As one might imagine Jeb Bush also immediately called Trump out for his remarks: 

"You talk about internment, you talk about closing mosques, you talk about registering people. That's just wrong. I don't care about campaigns," he said on CNBC. "It's not a question of toughness. It's to manipulate people's angst and their fears. That's not strength, that's weakness."

Less predictably fellow candidate, and Trump sycophant, Ted Cruz slammed his foot on the brakes: 

"I'm a big fan of Donald Trump's but I'm not a fan of government registries of American citizens," he told reporters of a plan Trump said he backed a day earlier. "The First Amendment protects religious liberty, I've spent the past several decades defending religious liberty." 

Wow, losing Ted Cruz. That's big!

I have this image of Cruz following Trump around like a puppy, desperate to snatch up any crumbs of support that might fall off his master's table. Those crumbs are the foundation of Cruz's plan to win the nomination, so you know he is not walking away from that on impulse.

So now the question is, will THIS hurt Trump's poll ratings, or is he really just tapping into the darkness at the soul of the Republican base?

And remember a Rhode Island state senator has already resurrected the specter of internment camps, so there is already evidence that Trump's statements will not be seen as problematic to those who see a terrorist behind every bush and believe that white Christians are losing their hold on the reigns of power in America.