The brouhaha over Trump not correcting the questioner who said that Obama was a Muslim is just silly. It is not incumbent upon Trump or anyone else to make sure that the President is thought of in the way he wishes to be. The idea that he is a Muslim persists not because of “racism” or “bigotry,” but because of his policies. In any case, Trump here says, rather haltingly, that there is a “problem” with “some Muslims” — another statement that is no doubt going to cause controversy. It is manifestly true — just look at Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon, the Muslims from the U.S. joining the Islamic State, etc. — but the fog of obfuscation is so thick in the mainstream media that there will be another chorus of indignant Leftists and Muslims demanding Trump’s head for this.
In the meantime, what really should be the focus of the public debate is not whether or not there is a “problem” with “some Muslims,” but whether or not Trump is at all equipped to deal with it. After he denounced our free speech event in Garland, Texas, last May, it is not at all clear that he understands the jihad imperative or the war against free speech, or is at all equipped to counter them. But mainstream media reporters are so abjectly clueless and compromised that no one is going to challenge him about that.
“Stephanopoulos Grills Trump: Why Can’t You Say That Obama Is American, Not A Muslim?,” Real Clear Politics, September 20, 2015:
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos grills Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on a question he received at a campaign event last week where a man stated President Obama is a Muslim….
STEPHANOPOULOS The other big premise of that question, he said, Muslims are a problem many this country, do you agree?
TRUMP: In some cases, George, we can say no, and you can be politically correct and say everything’s wonderful. Certainly it’s a problem. And there’s a problem —
STEPHANOPOULOS What is the problem specifically?
TRUMP: At the same time, we have fabulous people living here, Muslims, and they have done fantastically well, but certainly it’s a problem. You look around the world, it’s a problem. If I said no, not at all, people would laugh at me. Now, it might be the right thing to say. I don’t care what the right thing to say is, but certainly what’s happening with some Muslims and, you know, terrorism and everything else, it seems pretty much confined there. It’s a problem. We can say no, but it is.