Every time Donald Trump opens his mouth, he spews racist vitriol that tarnishes every Muslim as a potential terrorist. Last month it was disabled people who suffered the consequence of his reasonless ranting; the month before, women; and before that, Mexicans. Next month, it will be whoever Trump needs to badmouth to impress the Republican voters in the Iowa caucus as he tries to secure his party’s nomination to run for the White House.

While Trump is the leading contender to become the Republican nominee, he has done so on the back of a demagogue dialogue that is short on policy and long on the politics of hatred and bigotry. It’s all too easy to condemn Trump for his latest deliberate assertion calling for a “total and complete shutdown” of the country’s borders to Muslims in the wake of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. Deliberate? Yes. These are not the musings of a stupid man. His most extreme pledge yet — in a race in which he has consistently pushed the boat out on issues of race and immigration — came in a statement released to the media through his presidential campaign team.

“Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life,” the billionaire property developer said.

Sadly, there will be Americans who will agree with his hate-filled policies. And sadly too, they will help sustain the toxic atmosphere in which Islamophobia thrives, where the beauty of Islam is replaced by fear and loathing, and where tolerance is usurped by the turbulence of ignorance, intolerance and ignominy.

This creates a near-perfect toxic soup where extremists on both sides thrive in the shadows, and where the moderates and innocents suffer. His extremism is no different than that of Daesh. Zip it, Donald. Just zip it.