NEWARK, N.J. - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he is calling for a "complete and total shutdown" on Muslims entering the United States.

Trump says in a statement released by his campaign Monday that his proposal comes in response to the level of hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans.

Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says Trump's proposed ban would apply to "everybody," including Muslims seeking immigration visas as well as tourists seeking to enter the country.

The White House quickly condemned Trump's remarks. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told CNN the proposal was "totally contrary to our values as Americans."

Other GOP presidential contenders also came out against the idea of such a ban. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina condememed Trump's comments on Twitter and said other candidates should as well. 

He’s putting at risk the lives of interpreters, American supporters, diplomats, & the troops in the region by making these bigoted comments

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 7, 2015

Florida Governor Jeb Bush called Trump "unhinged" on Twitter, and said his policy proposals "are not serious."

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said there was "no question" Trump's proposal for a religious test to exclude immigration or travel could run afoul of the First Amendment. He said a better approach to combat terrorism spread by extremism is to work with "peaceful" Muslims to get better intelligence on possible radicalization happening in the U. S.

"There are folks in this race who don't care about what the law says because they're used to being able to fire people indiscriminantly on television," Christie said.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz did not directly denounce Trump's comments, saying instead it was not how he would approach securing the U. S. against extremism. Cruz said he introduced legislation calling on a three-year moratorium to refugees entering the U. S. from areas where the so-called Islamic State or Al Qaeda hold "a substantial amount of territory."