blogs.wsj.com Trump Doesn’t Refute Comment on Obama, Muslims
At his first post-debate campaign event, Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Thursday declined to refute a questioner who declared that Muslims are a “problem” in America and reiterated the long-debunked rumor that President Barack Obama is a Muslim.
The first question to Mr. Trump at a town hall rally in Rochester, N.H., came from a man who asserted, “We’ve got a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims. We know the president is one.” He added: “You know he’s not even an American.”
The questioner went on to ask Mr. Trump what he would do to address Muslim “training camps” in the U.S., where people “want to kill us.” He concluded: “That’s my question. When can we get rid of ‘em?”
Mr. Trump acknowledged the question but didn’t refute the premise. “We’re going to be looking a lot of different things. A lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying bad things are happening out there.”
Mr. Trump, who in 2011 pushed the false notion that Mr. Obama is not a natural- born citizen and pushed for him to release his birth certificate until the White House finally did so, did not address the man’s contention that Mr. Obama, who is a Christian, is Muslim.
The allegation that Mr. Obama is Muslim has long festered among some Republicans. In October 2008 then-GOP presidential nominee John McCain scolded a woman at a Minnesota town hall event who said Mr. Obama couldn’t be trusted because “he’s an Arab.”
Mr. McCain seized the microphone from the woman.
“No, ma’am, no, ma’am,” he said. “He’s a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not.”
Mr. Trump made no such admonition.
Mr. Trump also used the event to hit back against GOP presidential rival Carly Fiorina, who landed several rhetorical blows against the New York developer during Wednesday night’s Republican primary debate.
After listening to a woman describe her experience working at the technology company Lucent, for which Mrs. Fiorina was a senior executive in the 1990s before becoming chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co., Mr. Trump said he “thought I’d wait a couple of days before I exposed her business failure.”
“Everyone’s saying she made a good speech yesterday,” Mr. Trump said of Mrs. Fiorina’s debate performance. “I don’t know, I don’t get it. At some point people are going to see [her business record], and it’s going to be a very big roadblock.”
A spokeswoman for Mrs. Fiorina declined to respond to Mr. Trump.
More:
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