--- title: Donald Trump: Democrats React to Muslim Database Comments description: The three Democratic candidates hit back strongly against Trump's claim that he would make Muslims in America register in a database. canonical: https://time.com/4121983/democrats-trump-muslim-database/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-20T15:19:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T23:16:55.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democrats React to Trump's Muslim Database Comments og:description: "How is that at all American?" og:url: https://time.com/4121983/democrats-trump-muslim-database/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta114d010f54ddab6/698871eecf40a82eb8c40bde/hillary-clinton4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3600 og:image:height: 2025 og:image:alt: NY: Hillary Clinton Holds Press Conference On National Security In NYC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democrats React to Trump's Muslim Database Comments twitter:description: "How is that at all American?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta114d010f54ddab6/698871eecf40a82eb8c40bde/hillary-clinton4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democrats Call Trump's Muslim Database Comments 'Shocking' > 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: Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2015-07-23. Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:16 PM UTCPublished: Nov 20, 2015 3:19 PM UTC  Hillary Clinton holds a press conference on National Security at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Nov. 19, 2015. Hillary Clinton holds a press conference on National Security at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Nov. 19, 2015.Behar Anthony—Anthony Behar/Sipa USA  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:16 PM UTCPublished: Nov 20, 2015 3:19 PM UTC Donald Trump’s assertion that he would [make Muslims in America register in a database](http://time.com/4121511/donald-trump-muslims-database-terrorism/?xid=tcoshare) has forced candidates of both parties to stake out clearer positions in the heated debate over security after the Paris attacks. It’s a more fraught conundrum for the Republicans, many of whom are jockeying for positions along the hardline against Syrian refugees entering the U.S. But the three Democratic candidates hit back strongly against Trump’s claim. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the comments “shocking” and implied that meant Trump is unfit to be president: > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/667703375035789312) Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley used even harsher language, [telling MSNBC Friday](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news-campaigns-homeland-security/260883-omalley-on-trumps-muslim-id-cards): “When you hear people like Donald Trump talking about wanting to do ID cards based on religion. What the hell is that? I mean, how is that at all American?” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders weighed in Friday afternoon, saying Trump’s comments were “bigoted” and echoing the tone of his fellow Democratic candidates: > [](https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/667760946715168768) **Read More:** [_Republicans Push Back on Trump_](http://time.com/4121800/republicans-push-back-on-trump/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4121983/democrats-trump-muslim-database/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4121983/democrats-trump-muslim-database/"},"headline":"Democrats Call Trump's Muslim Database Comments 'Shocking'","datePublished":"2015-11-20T15:19:06.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T23:16:55.000Z","description":"The three Democratic candidates hit back strongly against Trump's claim that he would make Muslims in America register in a database.","url":"https://time.com/4121983/democrats-trump-muslim-database/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Syrian refugees","Bernie Sanders","Martin O'malley"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta114d010f54ddab6/698871eecf40a82eb8c40bde/hillary-clinton4.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/blta114d010f54ddab6/698871eecf40a82eb8c40bde/hillary-clinton4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NY: Hillary Clinton Holds Press Conference On National Security In NYC","caption":"NY: Hillary Clinton Holds Press Conference On National Security In NYC","creditText":"Behar Anthony—Anthony Behar/Sipa USA","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/4121983/democrats-trump-muslim-database/","name":"Democrats Call Trump's Muslim Database Comments 'Shocking'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump","description":"Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7MzTpVq2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-23T21:38:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4121983/democrats-trump-muslim-database/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4121983/democrats-trump-muslim-database/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```