--- description: Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized Trump's response title: Donald Trump Slammed By Rivals for Handling of Muslim Question image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f48723e3008cc7/69886425e20a875d07a8d4bf/62e42b1949c947f7a4ea108e229b0570-0.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 * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump Slammed By Rivals for Handling of Muslim Question by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 1:53 AM CUTPublished: Sep 18, 2015 4:17 PM CUT  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](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 1:53 AM CUTPublished: Sep 18, 2015 4:17 PM CUT 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/ "undefined")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 "undefined") 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. Trump responded, “We’re going to be looking at a lot of different things.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4040435/trump-muslim-question/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4040435/trump-muslim-question/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Slammed By Rivals for Handling of Muslim Question","datePublished":"2015-09-18T16:17:55.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T01:53:53.000Z","description":"Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized Trump's response","url":"https://time.com/4040435/trump-muslim-question/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Chris Christie","Obama","Muslim","Bernie Sanders","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f48723e3008cc7/69886425e20a875d07a8d4bf/62e42b1949c947f7a4ea108e229b0570-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f48723e3008cc7/69886425e20a875d07a8d4bf/62e42b1949c947f7a4ea108e229b0570-0.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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