Donald Trump Fields Question About Muslims, Hillary Clinton Simultaneously Speaks in New Hampshire

Two leading presidential candidates visited the Granite State on Thursday ostensibly to build excitement ahead of New Hampshire's early primary.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was greeted by a huge crowd at a town hall-style rally in Rochester, New Hampshire and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton held three events around the state.

Trump may leave with the bigger headline after a supporter asked Trump a question about Muslims in America.

"We have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims," the supporter said.

"We know our current president is one," he added. "You know he's not even an American."

"We need this question," Trump replied, smiling.

"That's my question," the man said. "When can we get rid 'em?"

Trump did not attempt to correct the record about President Obama's faith or nationality.

"We are going to be looking at a lot of different things," Trump said in response.

NBC News reached out to the Trump campaign for clarification on the remark. His staff told NBC News that Trump meant to say that "Christians need support in this country. Their religious liberty is at stake."

When pressed whether Trump believes that Muslims are "a problem" in this country, a staffer replied: "Mr. Trump was referring to the need to protect Christians' religious liberties as his previous statements said and nothing more."

Other supporters asked about veterans issues. Trump says a plan is coming.

"You’re going to go to private practice," he said. "It'll be less expensive and you'll get much better service. But you're not going to be waiting in rooms for five and six and seven days."

Trump also talked about taking jobs and bringing manufacturing back to the U.S., continuing his harsh words about Oreos, over the cookie maker's decision to close a plant in Chicago and move it to Mexico.

A former employee of Lucent Technologies brought up Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, saying she cost her part of her retirement when she helped run the company and the stock price eventually plunged.

Clinton held three rallies Thursday, covering several issues. The last of those rallies took place at the same time as Trump's.

Her day began in typical "political stump" fashion, with a diner stop to meet and chat with voters.

From there, she had two early events - one in Nashua, the other in Laconia - to talk about the drug problem.

Then, it was on to Concord for a town hall meeting where she was asked about the best way to fight terrorism.

"This is an ongoing learning process," she said. "I think we have to be very, very careful, and we have to use force as a last resort, not a first resort," she said. "

Clinton will remain in New Hampshire through Saturday, when she's scheduled to speak at the New Hampshire Democratic Party State Convention along with Lincoln Chafee, Lawrence Lessig, Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders.

Republican candidate Bobby Jindal is also scheduled to be in the state on Friday.

Contact Us