--- title: Hillary Clinton Says She Won’t ‘Declare War’ on Islam description: Hillary Clinton said she will not “demonize” Islam by using the phrase “radical Islam” after the Orlando nightclub shooting. canonical: https://time.com/4366044/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting-islam/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-13T12:47:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-15T00:34:31.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton Says She Won’t ‘Declare War’ on Islam After Orlando Shooting og:description: “I'm not going to demonize … and declare war on an entire religion" og:url: https://time.com/4366044/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting-islam/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39edc69bef41d692/69889775524fc0b1e3df857a/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Hillary Clinton Speaks At Planned Parenthood Action Fund Membership Event og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton Says She Won’t ‘Declare War’ on Islam After Orlando Shooting twitter:description: “I'm not going to demonize … and declare war on an entire religion" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39edc69bef41d692/69889775524fc0b1e3df857a/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Says She Won’t ‘Declare War’ on Islam After Orlando Shooting > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=90fcbb31-3b0f-4a30-8e54-d64402e7d562&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Updated: Dec 15, 2023 12:34 AM UTCPublished: Jun 13, 2016 12:47 PM UTC  Hillary Clinton is pictured here on June 10, 2016 in Washington, DC. Hillary Clinton is pictured here on June 10, 2016 in Washington, DC. Jennifer Graylock—WireImage  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Updated: Dec 15, 2023 12:34 AM UTCPublished: Jun 13, 2016 12:47 PM UTC [Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4365764/orlando-shooting-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/?xid=homepage) on Monday said [she will not “demonize” the religion of Islam](http://www.today.com/video/hillary-clinton-reacts-to-orlando-shooting-i-won-t-declare-war-on-a-religion-704380483647) by using the specific phrase “radical Islam” when discussing the Orlando nightclub massacre after [calls from Donald Trump to do so](http://time.com/4365567/donald-trump-orlando-shooting/). Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, responded to Trump’s criticism following [Sunday’s deadly mass shooting](http://time.com/4365988/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen-police-pulse/?xid=homepage) at Pulse Orlando during a telephone interview with NBC’s _Today_ show. “In my perspective, it matters what we do, not what we say,” Clinton said. “To me, radical jihadism, radical Islamism, I think they mean the same thing. I’m happy to say either, but that’s not the point.” “I’m not going to demonize … and declare war on an entire religion,” she added. “That’s just plain dangerous and it plays into ISIS’s hands.” Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, had slammed both Clinton and President Barack Obama for being “weak” for failing to describe the shooting as an act of “radical Islam.” “In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words ‘Radical Islam’. For that reason alone, he should step down,” Trump said in a statement Sunday. “If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words ‘Radical Islam’ she should get out of this race for the Presidency.” In a _Today_ interview on Monday, the mogul again renewed his call for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. and reiterated his criticism against American leaders. “It’s insulting to our country that Obama doesn’t use the term radical Islamic terrorism,” Trump said. “He’s not addressing the issue, he’s not calling it what it is—radical Islamic terrorism.” Clinton also pushed for gun control Monday in a separate interview with CNN’s _New Day_. Authorities say Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen used a handgun and an assault-type rifle during his attack. “Yes, there is a right for law-abiding, responsible Americans to own guns. And yes, there are reasonable common-sense measures to try to keep people safe from guns,” Clinton said. “We’ve got to figure out the best way to move forward on that.” Both Clinton and Trump are [expected to address the shooting](http://time.com/4365764/orlando-shooting-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/) in separate addresses Monday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4366044/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting-islam/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4366044/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting-islam/"},"headline":"Hillary Clinton Says She Won’t ‘Declare War’ on Islam After Orlando Shooting","datePublished":"2016-06-13T12:47:14.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-15T00:34:31.000Z","description":"“That’s just plain dangerous and it plays into ISIS’s hands.”","url":"https://time.com/4366044/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting-islam/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39edc69bef41d692/69889775524fc0b1e3df857a/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39edc69bef41d692/69889775524fc0b1e3df857a/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hillary Clinton Speaks At Planned Parenthood Action Fund Membership Event","caption":"Hillary Clinton is pictured here on June 10, 2016 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Jennifer Graylock—WireImage","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/4366044/hillary-clinton-orlando-shooting-islam/","name":"Hillary Clinton Says She Won’t ‘Declare War’ on Islam After Orlando Shooting"}}]}] ```