MOSCOW (Sputnik) — US presidential hopeful Donald Trump challenged President Barack Obama on Sunday to acknowledge that the deadly Orlando shooting was an act of Islamic terrorism or resign.
A gunman attacked a gay night club in Orlando overnight, killing at least 50 people and injuring 53 more. US media reported that the attacker, Omar Saddiqui Mateen, was a US national of Afghan origin who had vowed loyalty to the Daesh terror group.
"Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism? If he doesn't he should immediately resign in disgrace!" Trump wrote on his official Twitter page.
In his address to the nation on the incident, which has become the deadliest mass shooting in the US history since the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, Obama described it as an "act of terror and an act of hate," but stopped short of making a connection to radical Islam, which has not been proven.
The Republican frontrunner has been widely criticized for his controversial statements on Islam. In December 2015, he proposed a ban for Muslims entering the United States, as well as an Islamic registration and control of certain mosques.
