--- description: Donald Trump and Marco Rubio sparred about Islam and Muslim-Americans at the GOP debate Thursday. title: Watch Rubio Slam Trump for Saying 'Islam Hates Us' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda0b83d3bbbad7cf/69888a955f570ff793b1ffd5/republican_debate_a.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Rubio Slam Trump for Saying 'Islam Hates Us'  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 11, 2016 3:34 AM CUT  Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, speaks as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, right, and Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, listen, during the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group and the Washington Times at the University of Miami, March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables, Fla. Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, speaks as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, right, and Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, listen, during the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group and the Washington Times at the University of Miami, March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables, Fla.Wilfredo Lee—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 11, 2016 3:34 AM CUT Donald Trump didn’t back down from his comment that “[Islam hates us](http://time.com/4253839/donald-trump-islam-hates-us-interview/ "undefined")” at the Republican debate Thursday, but Marco Rubio hit back at him with more nuance. CNN moderator Jake Tapper asked Trump if he meant all 1.6 billion Muslims in the world when he said the religion hates America. “I mean a lot of them,” Trump replied. “There’s tremendous hatred, and I will stick with exactly what I said to Anderson Cooper.” Tapper then turned to Florida Sen. Rubio. “I know that a lot of people find appeal in the things Donald says, because he says what people wish they could say,” Rubio said. “The problem is presidents can’t just say anything they want. It has consequences, here and around the world.” Rubio then said, “There is no doubt that radical Islam is a danger to the world,” but that it’s wrong to generalize the whole religion. “I can also tell you that if you go to any national cemetery, especially Arlington, you’re going to see crescent moons there,” he continued. “If you go anywhere in the world, you’re going to see American men and women serving us in uniform that are Muslims.” Trump then responded, talking about the terrorist attacks of 9/11\. “You can say what you want and you can be politically correct if you want, I don’t want to be so politically correct,” he said. “I like to solve problems.” “I’m not interested in being politically correct,” Rubio shot back. “I’m interested in being correct.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4255083/watch-rubio-slam-trump-for-saying-islam-hates-us/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4255083/watch-rubio-slam-trump-for-saying-islam-hates-us/"},"headline":"Watch Rubio Slam Trump for Saying 'Islam Hates Us'","datePublished":"2016-03-11T03:34:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:49:13.424Z","description":"\"I'm not interested in being politically correct, I'm interested in being correct\"","url":"https://time.com/4255083/watch-rubio-slam-trump-for-saying-islam-hates-us/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda0b83d3bbbad7cf/69888a955f570ff793b1ffd5/republican_debate_a.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda0b83d3bbbad7cf/69888a955f570ff793b1ffd5/republican_debate_a.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, John Kasich, Ted Cruz","caption":"Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, John Kasich, Ted Cruz","creditText":"Wilfredo Lee—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4255083/watch-rubio-slam-trump-for-saying-islam-hates-us/","name":"Watch Rubio Slam Trump for Saying 'Islam Hates Us'"}}]}] ```