Trump takes heat for not correcting man who called Obama Muslim, not American, Donald J. Trump is not often criticized for remaining silent, but on Friday, other presidential candidates rebuked him for not correcting an apparent supporter who said Barack Obama was a Muslim who was not born in America.
At a town hall event held on Thursday evening in Rochester, N.H., Mr. Trump took the man’s question, which began with the statement: “We have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims.”
The audience member continued, “We know our current president is one.” And as Mr. Trump responded, perhaps reflexively, “Right,” the man added, “You know he’s not even an American.”
Mr. Trump, in a statement released late Thursday through a spokeswoman, defended his decision not to correct the man. “The media wants to make this issue about Obama,” Mr. Trump said in the statement. “The bigger issue is that Obama is waging a war against Christians in this country. Christians need support in this country. Their religious liberty is at stake.”
But Mr. Trump’s response contrasted starkly to a similar question posed to John McCain when the Republican senator from Arizona was running for president in 2008.
“I have read about him,” a woman at a campaign rally said, “he’s an Arab.”
Mr. McCain stopped the woman and shook his head, saying the president was a “decent family man citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with.”Late Thursday, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the highest-profile Democratic candidate, spoke out in defense of the president and criticized Mr. Trump’s behavior.
“Donald Trump not denouncing false statements about POTUS & hateful rhetoric about Muslims is disturbing, & just plain wrong,” she wrote on Twitter, adding, “Cut it out.”
Many of Mr. Trump’s Republican competitors stayed quiet about the remarks on Friday, but Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey appeared on the “Today” show to say he would have responded differently.“I would just tell you that if somebody at one of my town hall meetings said something like that, I would correct them and say, now, the president’s a Christian and he was born in this country,” Mr. Christie said to the program’s host, Matt Lauer. “Those two things are self evident.”
For years, Mr. Trump has led the charge to cast doubt on the president’s citizenship, and has credited himself with forcing the president’s decision to publicly release his birth certificate in 2011.
Even after Mr. Obama released the document, Mr. Trump continued to doubt the certificate’s authenticity.
Mr. Christie said that Mr. Trump’s reaction to the anger around the episode in New Hampshire will be a test for his campaign.
“He’s got to decide how serious a candidate he wants to be,” Mr. Christie said, “and how he handles different problems like this are going to determine that in the eyes of the American people.”
At a town hall event held on Thursday evening in Rochester, N.H., Mr. Trump took the man’s question, which began with the statement: “We have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims.”
The audience member continued, “We know our current president is one.” And as Mr. Trump responded, perhaps reflexively, “Right,” the man added, “You know he’s not even an American.”
Mr. Trump, in a statement released late Thursday through a spokeswoman, defended his decision not to correct the man. “The media wants to make this issue about Obama,” Mr. Trump said in the statement. “The bigger issue is that Obama is waging a war against Christians in this country. Christians need support in this country. Their religious liberty is at stake.”
But Mr. Trump’s response contrasted starkly to a similar question posed to John McCain when the Republican senator from Arizona was running for president in 2008.
“I have read about him,” a woman at a campaign rally said, “he’s an Arab.”
Mr. McCain stopped the woman and shook his head, saying the president was a “decent family man citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with.”Late Thursday, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the highest-profile Democratic candidate, spoke out in defense of the president and criticized Mr. Trump’s behavior.
“Donald Trump not denouncing false statements about POTUS & hateful rhetoric about Muslims is disturbing, & just plain wrong,” she wrote on Twitter, adding, “Cut it out.”
Many of Mr. Trump’s Republican competitors stayed quiet about the remarks on Friday, but Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey appeared on the “Today” show to say he would have responded differently.“I would just tell you that if somebody at one of my town hall meetings said something like that, I would correct them and say, now, the president’s a Christian and he was born in this country,” Mr. Christie said to the program’s host, Matt Lauer. “Those two things are self evident.”
For years, Mr. Trump has led the charge to cast doubt on the president’s citizenship, and has credited himself with forcing the president’s decision to publicly release his birth certificate in 2011.
Even after Mr. Obama released the document, Mr. Trump continued to doubt the certificate’s authenticity.
Mr. Christie said that Mr. Trump’s reaction to the anger around the episode in New Hampshire will be a test for his campaign.
“He’s got to decide how serious a candidate he wants to be,” Mr. Christie said, “and how he handles different problems like this are going to determine that in the eyes of the American people.”
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