--- title: Donald Trump's Handling of Muslim Question Slammed by Rivals description: Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized Trump's response canonical: https://time.com/4040435/trump-muslim-question/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-18T16:17:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T01:53:53.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Slammed By Rivals for Handling of Muslim Question og:description: Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized Trump's response og:url: https://time.com/4040435/trump-muslim-question/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f48723e3008cc7/69886425e20a875d07a8d4bf/62e42b1949c947f7a4ea108e229b0570-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4332 og:image:height: 2437 og:image:alt: Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Slammed By Rivals for Handling of Muslim Question twitter:description: Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized Trump's response twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f48723e3008cc7/69886425e20a875d07a8d4bf/62e42b1949c947f7a4ea108e229b0570-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Slammed By Rivals for Handling of Muslim Question > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Martin O'Malley Comments On Donald Trump's Muslim Controversy [Watch (HLS stream): Martin O'Malley Comments On Donald Trump's Muslim Controversy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mZ5HSuYI.m3u8) (0:29)  _Published 2015-09-19. Martin O'Malley Comments On Donald Trump's Muslim Controversy_ by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Updated: Dec 14, 2023 1:53 AM UTCPublished: Sep 18, 2015 4:17 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a town hall event in Rochester, N.H. on Sept. 17, 2015. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a town hall event in Rochester, N.H. on Sept. 17, 2015. Robert F. Bukaty—AP by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Updated: Dec 14, 2023 1:53 AM UTCPublished: Sep 18, 2015 4:17 PM UTC Donald Trump came in for fresh criticism from opponents on both sides of the party aisle Friday, after [failing to correct ](http://time.com/4039658/trump-obama-muslim/)a questioner at a town hall meeting who said President Obama is a Muslim born outside the U.S. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton blasted her Republican rival in a tweet Thursday night, stating, “Donald Trump not denouncing false statements about POTUS & hateful rhetoric about Muslims is disturbing, & just plain wrong. Cut it out.” > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/644710016633712640) Bernie Sanders, another Democratic candidate, demanded that Trump apologize to the President, while fellow candidate Martin O’Malley also had harsh words for Trump. > [](https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/644865939725504512) > [](https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/644869905834225665) > [](https://twitter.com/MartinOMalley/status/644905360944459776) While many Republican candidates have stayed quiet about Trump’s most recent controversy, Chris Christie weighed in to say he would have handled the situation 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,” Christie [said on NBC’s TODAY show](http://www.today.com/news/chris-christie-false-obama-claims-trump-rally-i-wouldnt-have-t44946) Friday. “Those two things are self evident.” The questioner at the town hall meeting, who has not been identified, said, “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims.” He then said Obama was Muslim and asked how Trump intended to “get rid of” Muslims. 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