Sen. Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum on Friday refused to condemn Donald Trump for not taking issue with a man who, during a campaign event, called President Barack Obama a Muslim and said Muslims are “a problem in this country.”
The two candidates instead slammed reporters for asking about the controversy.
The Texas senator refused to say whether he believes Obama is a Muslim, insisting instead that “President Obama’s faith is between him and God.”
Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, simply said “the President says he’s a Christian” when asked the same question.
“Look, ladies and gentlemen I’m not playing this … game that you want to play,” a visibly aggravated Santorum said. “The President can defend himself. He doesn’t need Rick Santorum to defend him. He’s got you doing that very, very well. So cut it out.”
Cruz accused the press of trying to goad candidates into a “foodfight” and refused to say how he would have handled the same question about Muslims in American and Obama’s faith.
Instead, Cruz accused the media of trying to “stir up controversy,” repeatedly refusing to address the merits of the questioner’s comments about Obama and Muslims in America or whether Trump should have handled the interaction differently.
“You know, my focus is on my campaign,” Cruz said. “I understand the press wants to get Republicans throwing rocks at each other. How about we talk about the challenges facing this country?”
Santorum insisted he wouldn’t correct an event attendee’s questions or statements, even if they were controversial or offensive, a response that echoed his comments following a similar exchange with a supporter in 2012.
“The questioner can say whatever he wants. It’s a free country. He’s allowed to say whatever he wants,” Santorum said. “But the idea that somehow … we have to go out there and anytime someone says something that offends the press that we have to correct it. I think that’s, that’s part of the problem here.”
Santorum continued to insist that “people are entitled to their opinions” when asked whether the assertion that Muslims are a “problem” in America might be offensive to the more than 2.5 million Muslims living in the United States.
Cruz has stood behind Trump more than any other candidate, backing the brash billionaire in the aftermath of one controversy after the next, even as many Republicans have asserted that Trump could alienate key voting blocs, such as Hispanics.
Santorum has also refused to slam Trump, most recently during Wednesday’s Republican debate, when he stood out among the four contenders on stage for refusing to lob attacks at Trump, calling them a distraction.
A recent CNN poll found that about four in 10 Republicans and 29% of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took a different tack early Friday morning when he called out Trump.
“If somebody at one of my town hall meetings said that, I would correct them and I would say, ‘The President’s a Christian and he was born in this country. Those two things are self-evident,'” Christie told NBC’s “Today” show on Friday. “I’ll tell you what I would do, and I wouldn’t have permitted that if someone brought that up at a town hall meeting of mine; I would have said, ‘No, listen. Before we answer, let’s clear some things up for the rest of the audience.’ And I think you have an obligation as a leader to do that.”
Christie added: “Donald Trump has to decide how serious a candidate he wants to be and how he handles different problems like this are going to determine that in the eyes of the American people. I’m not going to lecture him about what to do.”