Donald Trump was in Iowa Saturday for two rallies, one in Newton and one in Davenport. At the Newton event, Trump took a few questions from reporters. Some were curious about Trump’s opinion about neighbors of San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Those neighbors reportedly suspected that something was going on with Farook and Malik but did not want to report them to authorities for fear of racially profiling the Muslim couple. Trump has criticized the neighbors and said people should not be hampered by political correctness if they believe something potentially dangerous is going on.
One reporter apparently thought there was nothing outwardly amiss with Farook and Malik, and challenged Trump to explain his position. What followed was a classic campaign moment:
REPORTER: Mr. Trump, both the people in the shooting, they were regular people, it seemed like, with kids, you know, they didn’t seem —
TRUMP: Which people are we talking about?
REPORTER: The husband and wife —
TRUMP: You mean the people that were the killers?
REPORTER: The killers. They were just normal people, with a kid, they went to work, they were unsuspected. What would you do —
TRUMP: Well, I don’t know if they were regular people. I heard the apartment was loaded up with bombs and with guns —
REPORTER: But nobody would ever assume that it was the case. What would you do —
TRUMP: Well, I don’t know. When you have pipe bombs lying all over the floor, I don’t think they’re regular people. When you have pipe bombs all over the floor, so I don’t think they’re regular people.
REPORTER: They slipped under the cracks, though. What do you think should be done differently?
TRUMP: Well, again, there were people who knew bad things were going on. People knew that bad things were going on, and they didn’t report it because of racial profiling. But I don’t think they were regular people. To me, they’re not regular people. To me, they were criminals, and it’s too bad somebody didn’t find out about it sooner.
