Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump continues to insist that he is "100 percent right" in saying he witnessed thousands of Muslim-Americans in New Jersey cheering the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, despite no evidence of such celebrations actually occurring.
Fact checkers, city leaders and law enforcement have all said that Trump is incorrect in his assertion, yet the real estate billionaire refused to back down from his claims on Sunday, telling NBC's "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd that "hundreds of people agree" that Muslims in New Jersey were shown on television celebrating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, reported CNN.
"I have a very good memory, Chuck. I'll tell you, I have a very good memory. It was 14 years ago but I saw it on television, I saw clips and so did many other people, and many saw it in person," Trump said.
Noting the large Muslim population in New Jersey, Trump asked: "Why wouldn't it have taken place? I've had hundreds of people call in and tweet in on Twitter, saying that they saw it and I was 100 percent right."
"I saw it and so many people saw it, Chuck," he continued, reported AFP. "So, why would I take it back? I'm not going to take it back."
Todd retorted with a look of disgust: "Just because somebody repeats something doesn't make it true. And I guess, that's actually, that's the worst."
Trump first made the claim last week at a rally and on national television. He then tweeted a Washington Post article published on Sept. 18, 2001, which said "law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river."
And while it is true that law enforcement arrested a number of people who were celebrating the attacks, Trump's version is a bit distorted, as they were not Muslim, but in fact, Israelis. As ABC News reported, three Israelis were seen dancing, smiling and videotaping the 9/11 attacks from the roof of their moving van in New Jersey. Later that afternoon, a New Jersey police officer spotted the van and arrested five suspicious Israelis, at least two of whom were reportedly determined by the FBI to be Israeli intelligence operatives. The five men were detained for 70 days and eventually sent back to Israel.
Trump hasn't yet produced evidence of dancing Muslims, but he told "Meet the Press" that "we're looking for other articles and we're looking for other clips and I wouldn't be surprised if we found them... But for some reason they're not that easy to come by."
