--- title: Cheney Condemns Trump Plan to Ban Muslims From Entering U.S. description: Former Vice President Dick Cheney condemned GOP candidate Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/4139998/dick-cheney-trump-muslims/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-08T01:45:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:11:01.898Z article:section: Politics og:title: Dick Cheney Condemns Trump Plan to Ban Muslims From Entering U.S. og:description: "I mean, religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from" og:url: https://time.com/4139998/dick-cheney-trump-muslims/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2f2f8482f779faa/6988743fa988caf8686b59e8/former-vice-president-dick-cheney.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cheney Bust Unveiling og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dick Cheney Condemns Trump Plan to Ban Muslims From Entering U.S. twitter:description: "I mean, religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2f2f8482f779faa/6988743fa988caf8686b59e8/former-vice-president-dick-cheney.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Dick Cheney Condemns Trump Plan to Ban Muslims From Entering U.S. by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 8, 2015 1:45 AM CUT  Former Vice President Dick Cheney makes remarks during a bust unveiling ceremony for him in the Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall on Dec. 3, 2015. Former Vice President Dick Cheney makes remarks during a bust unveiling ceremony for him in the Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall on Dec. 3, 2015.Tom Williams—AP by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 8, 2015 1:45 AM CUT Former Vice President Dick Cheney condemned GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s [proposal](http://time.com/4139476/donald-trump-shutdown-muslim-immigration "undefined") to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Cheney said the plan, which Trump announced Monday, “goes against everything we stand for and believe in.” “I mean, religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from,” he added. Cheney said that there is a “serious problem” when it comes to refugees from Syria and other countries in ensuring they don’t “represent ISIS. “You’ve got to set up a vetting process — and that’s crucial,” he said. Cheney faulted the Obama Administration for a lack of leadership in the Middle East and backed proposals by some in the GOP for creating “safe zones” in Syria for refugees to ease the burden on the U.S. and Europe. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4139998/dick-cheney-trump-muslims/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4139998/dick-cheney-trump-muslims/"},"headline":"Dick Cheney Condemns Trump Plan to Ban Muslims From Entering U.S.","datePublished":"2015-12-08T01:45:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:11:01.898Z","description":"\"I mean, religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from\"","url":"https://time.com/4139998/dick-cheney-trump-muslims/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","apester"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2f2f8482f779faa/6988743fa988caf8686b59e8/former-vice-president-dick-cheney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2f2f8482f779faa/6988743fa988caf8686b59e8/former-vice-president-dick-cheney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cheney Bust Unveiling","caption":"Former Vice President Dick Cheney makes remarks during a bust unveiling ceremony for him in the Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall on Dec. 3, 2015.","creditText":"Tom Williams—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4139998/dick-cheney-trump-muslims/","name":"Dick Cheney Condemns Trump Plan to Ban Muslims From Entering U.S."}}]}] ```