Donald Trump says Muslims are “phenomenal” people. But some of them, he says, pose a problem for the country.
At a town hall in New Hampshire earlier this month, an unidentified man referred to President Barack Obama as a Muslim and asked Trump how he plans to eradicate “training camps.”
Trump sparked outrage when he didn’t correct the man for erroneously calling Obama a Muslim.
The Republican presidential front-runner said he would not handle the situation differently if it were to arise again, he told CNN’s Don Lemon Wednesday in an interview on “CNN Tonight.”
“He said Muslims are a problem, OK? That’s what he said, OK? Are they a problem? You tell me,” Trump said. “I don’t see the people … that knocked down the World Trade Center going back to Sweden. OK? So he said Muslims are a problem.”
Pressed on whether he personally believes Muslims are a problem, the billionaire responded, “I think a certain segment are certainly a problem.”
“Unless you want to be so politically correct where you want me to say, ‘Oh, absolutely not,'” he said.
Lemon also asked whether Trump is homophobic.
“No. I think that I’m a very nice person,” Trump responded, alleging that he is viewed favorable in the polls by various demographics “across the board.”
The real estate mogul also discussed his recent appearance at an African-American Chamber of Commerce event in South Carolina. Multiple news outlets, including CNN, reported at the time that as Trump spoke, there were many empty seats at the back of the event hall. Trump has repeatedly said the seats were empty because people moved to stand in the front.
The candidate said Wednesday he event received a letter from the Chamber saying he was unfairly treated by the press.
“The dais was packed with people, packed with people. They were all up front,” he said. “I could hardly get into the room, it was a great event, and CNN in particular made me look bad.”
