Newt Gingrich calls for deportation test for all Muslims in U.S.

WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a finalist for Donald Trump's running mate, called Thursday for deportation tests of all Muslims in the United States.

Gingrich, expected to speak at next week's Republican Convention in Cleveland told Fox News in response to the attack in Nice, France that Muslims in the United States should be tested for believing in sharia law. If so, they should be deported.

The former Speaker declared "Western civilization is in a war" just hours after his potential boss Trump declared the Nice attack an act of "war."

"We need to be fairly relentless about defining who our enemies are," he told Fox's Sean Hannity. "Anybody who goes on a website favoring ISIS, or Al Qaeda, or other terrorist groups, that should be a felony, and they should go to jail. Any organization which hosts such a website should be engaged in a felony. It should be closed down immediately."

Gingrich continued that the U.S. government should also "monitor the mosques. I mean, if you're not prepared to monitor the mosques, this whole thing is a joke."