Donald Trump said that he wasn’t “morally obligated” to defend President Obama after an audience member said that he was a Muslim.
“This is the first time in my life that I have caused controversy by NOT saying something,” said the Republican front-runner on Twitter Saturday.
Trump has taken heat for not addressing an audience member’s remarks at recent rally that President Obama is a Muslim, which he is not.
“Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him?” Trump said on Twitter. “I don’t think so!”
He added that Obama wouldn’t come to his defense if the same thing happened to Trump.
The real estate mogul added that he was in a “no-win” situation.
“If I would have challenged the man, the media would have accused me of interfering with that man’s right of free speech,” a recent tweet said.
Trump has led national and early primary and caucus state polls.
The mogul and reality TV star has waded into questions of Obama’s heritage before. Back in 2011 he publicly questioned whether Obama was an American citizen, an effort that eventually led to the president releasing his birth certificate from Hawaii.
Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don’t think so!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2015
This is the first time in my life that I have caused controversy by NOT saying something.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2015
If I would have challenged the man, the media would have accused me of interfering with that man’s right of free speech. A no win situation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2015
