Donald Trump backtracking continues: Campaign now seeking Muslim voters

If you're keeping a tally, this is, at least, the fifth time presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has backtracked on promises he made during the primary election and caucuses.

Thus far, Trump is changing course on not raising taxes on his rich friends, he has backtracked on punishing women for having an abortion, reversed on the anti-trans bathroom bill in North Carolina and even his legislative surrogate admitted that Trump will never actually build that wall on the U.S./Mexico border his supporters chant about at rallies. Now, the Trump campaign is seeking votes from the very Muslims Trump has promised to ban from the United States.

In a phone interview with The Hill, a top national security adviser for Trump, Walid Phares, admitted that the campaign is in talks with Muslim leaders because they are a small but important voting bloc. He explained that these talks are merely a natural extension of the campaign's policy work for Middle Eastern affairs.

“Most of those who reached out said they want to support Mr. Trump, but they’re not clear about some of the statements he’s made,” Phares said.

Trump's first campaign ad that aired in Iowa and New Hampshire reiterated his call to temporarily ban all Muslims from crossing the border.

“His remarks are not consistent with common sense or moral values because he is not honest and exploits attacks on Islam in order to gain access to power,”Ali Qara Daghi, Secretary-General of the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) told Agence France.

“These people know what they want – they’re concerned about the well-being of their communities and believe that Trump has the right economic and social agenda,” Phares continued. “But they’re trying to get a handle on how he’ll deal with the Middle East.”

Last week, Trump spokesperson, Katrina Pierson, dodged questions when CNN asked her about Trump's ban on Muslims coming into the United States.

“Right now the ban is just a few sentences in a foreign policy announcement and a tweet, it’s not like he’s written books or published articles or delivered lectures on this,” Phares admitted. “He’ll continue to add context and distinction to his position as he gets new information.”