--- ---  # Here's How Donald Trump Responded to a Person Saying President Obama is Muslim by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 17, 2015 11:59 PM UTC  Donald Trump on Sept. 17, 2015, in Rochester, N.H. Donald Trump on Sept. 17, 2015, in Rochester, N.H.Robert F. Bukaty—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 17, 2015 11:59 PM UTC Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump took questions at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Thursday, and the first one came from an audience member who expressed anti-Muslim sentiment. “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims. Our current President is one. We know he’s not even an American,” the audience member said. “We have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That’s my question, when can we get rid of them?” In response to that question, which as Trump noted was the first question of the Town Hall, the presidential contender said, “we’re going to be looking at a lot of different things.” “A lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. We’re going to be looking at that and a lot of different things.” Trump did not correct the audience member and note that the President of the United States is both an American and a Christian. **Read more:** [**‘How to Make Donald Trump Disappear’**](http://time.com/4038224/republican-debate-donald-trump/) On the other hand, when Sen. John McCain was faced with questions about President Obama’s ethnic background on the presidential campaign trail in 2008, he [corrected audience members](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrnRU3ocIH4). “I want to be President of the United States and I obviously do not want Sen. Obama to be, but I have to tell you, I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as President of the United States,” Sen. McCain said. ### Meet Donald Trump's Family  Left: Ivanka Trump with her mother, Ivana, in 1992; Right: Ivanka in New York City in February 2015. Ben Coster—Camera Press/Redux; Gilbert Carrasquillo—Getty Images  Left: Donald Trump Jr. and Donald Trump in 1988; Right: Donald Trump Jr. in New York City in April 2011. Ron Galella—Getty Images; Gilbert Carrasquillo—Getty Images  Left: Eric Trump and Donald Trump in 2007; Right: Eric Trump in New York City in October 2013. James Devaney—Getty Images; Astrid Stawiarz—Getty Images  Left: Marla Maples and Donald Trump's daughter Tiffany on March 19, 1996 in New York City; Right:Tiffany Trump attends Barbie and CFDA Event on Sept. 5, 2014 in New York City. Gregory Pace—Sygma/Corbis; J Carter Rinaldi—Getty Images  Left: Donald Trump's son Barron with his mother Melania at the FAO Schwarz in New York City; Right: Barron Trump with his father, Donald Trump and mother, Melania Knauss on Feb. 16th, 2015. Left: Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images; Right: Mike Pont—NBC/Getty Donald Trump: Supporter at Rally Says Obama is Muslim ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4039658/trump-obama-muslim/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4039658/trump-obama-muslim/"},"headline":"Here's How Donald Trump Responded to a Person Saying President Obama is Muslim","datePublished":"2015-09-17T23:59:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:37.417Z","description":"The audience member said President Barack Obama, who is a Christian and was born in Hawaii, is a Muslim and not an American","url":"https://time.com/4039658/trump-obama-muslim/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Barack Obama","Obama","Religion","Donald Trump","trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dc6d3a44fe598cc/69886437196cf46fd5038178/donald-trump12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dc6d3a44fe598cc/69886437196cf46fd5038178/donald-trump12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump","caption":"Donald Trump","creditText":"Robert F. 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