Donald Trump is a racist and dangerous clown, says John Halligan

Junior minister John Halligan has called US presidential candidate Donald Trump an “asshole” and said the US military should be banned from stopping off at Shannon Airport.

Mr Halligan also said Google, Facebook, and Apple do not pay enough tax here.

Speaking to Hot Press in the second part of an interview, the Independent TD for Waterford hit out at Republican nominee Mr Trump.

“He’s nuts. I think he’s homophobic. I think he’s racist. I think he’s extreme right wing. I think he’s a clown. I think he’s no knowledge of foreign affairs. And, I think, he’s dangerous,” said Mr Halligan, the junior education minister.

“If I was walking around America now and there were kids in America not registered, I’d say, ‘Get registered quickly for the sake of your country and the sake of the world — and vote against this asshole’.”

The use of Shannon Airport by US military planes should also be stopped, said Mr Halligan . “They shouldn’t be using it at all. I mean, is there somebody serious telling me there’s not munitions on board? We don’t know,” he said.

“We’re a contributing factor, to a degree, to innocent people being killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and maybe Syria.”

His comments come after he made equally controversial remarks in part one of the interview last week. He suggested opening HSE-run drug shops and decriminalising the use of drugs.

Prostitution should also be regulated, he said.