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Trump refuses to defend Obama
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Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has said that it was not his job to stand up for US President Barack Obama after a man at one of his campaign events on Saturday said he was a Muslim and 鈥渘ot even an American.鈥
鈥淎m I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don鈥檛 think so!鈥 Trump said on Twitter.
Trump drew criticism on Friday from Republican and Democratic rivals in the 2016 race for the presidency when he failed to challenge a man at a New Hampshire town hall on Thursday night who said Muslims were a problem in the United States. 鈥淲e know our current president is one. You know he鈥檚 not even an American,鈥 the man said.
Trump, the billionaire television personality who leads the pack of Republicans seeking the presidential nomination, has cast doubt on whether Obama was born in the United States and therefore qualified to stand as president.
鈥淭his is the first time in my life that I have caused controversy by NOT saying something,鈥 Trump tweeted. 鈥淚f someone made a nasty or controversial statement about me to the president, do you really think he would come to my rescue? No chance!鈥
Obama is a Christian who as president has attended church occasionally. Later on Saturday, Trump read out the tweets to audience applause at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum in Des Moines.
Trump rattled the Republican establishment with a summer surge to the top of the polls, overshadowing expected favorite Jeb Bush, the son and brother of two US presidents. An unremarkable showing at Wednesday night鈥檚 Republican debate, where the frontrunner drew attacks from his many rivals, had some observers wondering if Trump frenzy is finally on the wane.
Trump鈥檚 anti-immigrant rhetoric, described as divisive even by members of his own party, has tapped into a vein of anger among like-minded supporters.
In August, two Boston brothers charged with urinating and beating a homeless Mexican man told police they were inspired by Trump. 鈥淒onald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported,鈥 they said, according to a police report.
On Monday, opponents and supporters clashed outside a rally for Trump. Protesters, many of them Hispanic, shouted 鈥渟hame on you,鈥 while some Trump fans retorted, 鈥淜eep them out!鈥
The tenor of the campaign has drawn parallels to the 2008 rallies by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, that drew virulent anti-Obama rhetoric including shouts of 鈥渢errorist鈥 or 鈥渢raitor.鈥
Far from trying to tamp down the controversy, Trump appeared to reach for more in his tweets Saturday, implying that Christians have suffered under Obama. 鈥淐hristians need support in our country (and around the world), their religious liberty is at stake! Obama has been horrible, I will be great,鈥 Trump said.
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