--- title: Trump Draws Criticism For Saying 'Thousands' Celebrated 9/11 description: “His comments are irresponsible — not to mention factually challenged.” canonical: https://time.com/4123736/donald-trump-911-arabs/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-22T21:03:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:51.473Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Criticzed For Saying 'Thousands' in New Jersey Celebrated 9/11 og:description: Critics are calling his comment irresponsible og:url: https://time.com/4123736/donald-trump-911-arabs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a47c4a07ee3aa01/6988725d0b72e369e46e6f3c/trump-rally-alabama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Complex in Birmingham og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Criticzed For Saying 'Thousands' in New Jersey Celebrated 9/11 twitter:description: Critics are calling his comment irresponsible twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a47c4a07ee3aa01/6988725d0b72e369e46e6f3c/trump-rally-alabama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Draws Criticism For Saying 'Thousands' in New Jersey Celebrated 9/11 > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### 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: TIME Raw: Cruz Breaks With Trump On Muslim Databse [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Cruz Breaks With Trump On Muslim Databse](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nUbOgOn2.m3u8) (0:25)  _Published 2015-11-20. TIME Raw: Cruz Breaks With Trump On Muslim Databse_ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 22, 2015 9:03 PM UTC  Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Birmingham, Ala., on Nov. 21, 2015. Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Birmingham, Ala., on Nov. 21, 2015. Marvin Gentry—Reuters by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 22, 2015 9:03 PM UTC Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump [came under fire](http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/anti-defamation-league-condemns-trump-for-false-claims-about#.mf0lDllLV) Sunday for saying that thousands of people celebrated on 9/11. At a rally in Birmingham, Alabama Saturday, Trump told the crowd that he observed “thousands and thousands” of people in New Jersey—where Trump says there are “large Arab populations”—cheering as the World Trade Center came down, reports [Yahoo News](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-saw-thousands-thousands-people-164537580.html). Trump doubled down on his comments Sunday during a phone interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s The Week. “There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey, where you have large Arab populations. They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down,” said Trump. “I know it might be not politically correct for you to talk about it, but there were people cheering as that building came down — as those buildings came down. And that tells you something. It was well-covered at the time.” The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish watchdog group, took issue with Trump’s statement shortly after, telling BuzzFeed News Sunday, “It is unfortunate that Donald Trump is giving new life to long-debunked conspiracy theories about 9/11.” “This seems a variation of the anti-Semitic myth that a group of Israelis were seen celebrating as the Twin Towers fell,” the ADL said. “His comments are irresponsible — not to mention factually challenged.” According to the [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/us/politics/donald-trump-syrian-muslims-surveillance.html), it is hard to determine whether Trump was specifically referring to Muslims. A rumor circulated at the time that that Muslims were celebrating in New Jersey was quickly debunked by police. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop criticized the billionaire real estate magnate’s memory on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/StevenFulop/status/668457764792979456) Trump’s comments come while many of the GOP presidential candidates have called for blocking Syrian refugees and increased scrutiny of Muslims after the terrorist attacks in Paris claimed 129 lives last week. ## Transcript Well, listen. I'm a big fan of Donald Trump's, but I'm not a fan of government registries of American citizens. The first amendment protects religious liberty and I've spent the past several decades defending the religious liberty of every American. What I do think is important is that the federal government be far more vigor. Terrorists, going after radical Islamic terrorists. 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