ABC "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday pressed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on his handling of a question he received at a campaign event last week where a man called President Obama a Muslim.
Trump had come under fire for his questionable handling of the incident that occurred Thursday night at a town hall event in New Hampshire, where a supporter declared that "we have a Muslim problem in this country" and that Obama is a Muslim rather than American, as HNGN reported.
Critics maintain that the real estate mogul should have corrected the audience member, rather than quickly change the subject.
During the 2012 presidential race, Trump publicly questioned whether Obama was born in the United States and repeatedly pressured him to release his birth certificate. The White House eventually did release Obama's birth certificate, but Trump continued to doubt its authenticity, according to the Huffington Post.
Stephanopoulos pressed Trump for an answer in a recent interview, not allowing the candidate to escape an answer by changing the subject.
"So for the record, was President Obama born in the United States?" Stephanopoulos asked Trump Sunday.
"Well, you know, I don't get into it, George. I think about jobs," Trump responded. "I'm talking about the military. I don't get into it. I mean they ask that question and I just want to talk about the things, because frankly, it's of no longer interest to me. We're beyond that. And it's just something I don't talk about."
Continuing to try to change the subject, Trump said, "I want to talk about the military. I want to talk about the vets and how badly they're treated. I want to talk about jobs."
But Stephanopoulos continued to press for an answer.
"But the way to get beyond it is to answer yes or no. Do you believe this?" Stephanopoulos asked.
"Well, that's possible," Trump said. "But I don't get into it. And I just don't talk about it."
"So - and even though you've raised questions and you've investigated this in the past, you're still..." Stephanopoulos said.
"Some people thought I should have defended the president in terms of the question that was asked the other night," Trump said. "And my attitude is, would he have done that for me? If somebody said that about me. And you know, he's been - he - he's very capable of defending himself, believe me."
Stephanopoulos continued, "Why can't you just say definitively, yes or no, President Obama was born in the United States, you've raised it many times, and he's not a Muslim."
"George you have raised a question," Trump said. "I haven't raised a question. I don't talk about it, and I don't like talking about somebody else's faith. He talks about his faith, and he can do that. But I don't talk about other people's faith. It's not appropriate for me to talk about somebody else's faith."
