Racial Profiling: Donald Trump Says It’s ‘Common Sense’

Donald Trump called for racial profiling Sunday, saying it’s just “common sense” in the wake of the bloody attacks in Orlando, Florida, this year; in San Bernardino, California, last year; and at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

“Well, I think profiling is something that we’re going to have to start thinking about as a country,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “Other countries do it: You look at Israel and you look at others, and they do it, and they do it successfully. You know, I hate the concept of profiling. But we have to start using common sense, and we have to use, you know, we have to use our heads. ... We really have to look at profiling. We have to look at it seriously.”

The remarks came in the wake of the June 12 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that left 49 people dead and 53 wounded. Omar Mateen, 29, who had previously cased the nightclub, opened fire on the victims and took time out to post his activities on Facebook, contact his wife and call 911 to talk with police.

Trump again blamed political correctness for the shooting, but he stopped short of saying Muslims who want to buy ammunition and weapons should undergo extra scrutiny. But he called on people to be vigilant and report anything that appears to be amiss.

“Everybody wants to be so politically correct. ... They don’t want to do anything,” Trump said.

The White House hopeful said the FBI likely should have looked at Mateen’s background more closely in their initial investigations of him, which would have shown a disruptive student and angry individual. “This was not a very good young man,” Trump said.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, making multiple appearances on TV talk shows Sunday morning, said the FBI is re-examining all the information it has on Mateen to determine whether anything was missed. The Justice Department plans to release Monday partial transcripts of the conversations Mateen had with police as he carried out his rampage in a bid to make the investigation as transparent as possible, Lynch said.

“We don’t have any information that shows he was being directed by anyone overseas. He was consuming racial jihadist information online,” she said.

Trump also criticized airport screening procedures, saying it makes little sense to screen all passengers the same way.