Donald Trump on anti-Muslim questioner controversy: Would Obama defend me? No chance!
Donald
Trump took to Twitter Saturday morning to strike back at everyone
criticizing him for not correcting a man who said President Obama is a
foreign-born Muslim.
“Am
I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says
something bad or controversial about him? I don’t think so!”
The
Republican presidential candidate, who routinely attracts press with
his biting put-downs, said this is the first time he caused controversy
by not saying something.
Trump added that there is no way Obama would have corrected a person who made misguided statement about him.
“If
someone made a nasty or controversial statement about me to the
president, do you really think he would come to my rescue? No chance!”
he said.
The incident that kicked off the latest media frenzy occurred at the beginning of the brash billionaire’s town hall event Thursday in Rochester, N.H.
For
the event’s first question, Trump called on an audience member wearing a
Trump T-shirt who said he thinks the U.S. needs to “get rid” of
Muslims.
“We
have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims. We know our
current president is one. We know he’s not even an American. Birth
certificate, man!” the man said, alluding to the “birther” movement. “We
have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That’s my
question: When can we get rid of them?”
Donald
Trump drew criticism for not defending the president at his New
Hampshire town hall meeting Thursday, but he strongly defended himself
on social media Saturday. (Photo: Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
While the unidentified man was speaking, Trump chuckled to other supporters, and asked, “We need this question?”
In response to the man’s query, he said that he would “look into that.”
Many
people, including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton,
were offended that Trump did not explain to the man that Obama is in
fact a Christian from Hawaii rather than a Muslim from outside the
country.
“Donald
Trump not denouncing false statements about POTUS & hateful
rhetoric about Muslims is disturbing, & just plain wrong. Cut it
out,”
White
House Press Secretary Josh Earnest asked Friday morning if anyone was
truly caught off guard that this sort of behavior reared its head at a
Trump event.
“Is anybody really surprised this happened at a Donald Trump rally?” Earnest asked. “I don’t think anybody who has been paying attention to Republican politics are really surprised.”
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