WASHINGTON: White House hopeful Donald Trump lost no time Sunday in claiming a massacre in a gay nightclub showed he has been right about Islamic extremism.
The Republican flag-bearer demanded that President Barack Obama stand down if he refuses to blame the attack on what Trump called "radical Islam".
And the property mogul went to Twitter to double down on his promise to ban Muslims from travelling to the United States if elected.
Obama had earlier branded the attack an act of "terror" and "hate" but the FBI investigation into the slain suspect's motives is continuing.
The attack by a US citizen left 50 dead in the worst mass shooting in US history and has been claimed by a media source close to the Islamic State group.
In a series of Tweets starting just hours after the shooting began and as reports were still sketchy, Trump said the tragedy supported his views.