Tuesday on “ABC World News,” Barbara Walters sat down with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to discuss the controversy over his call to ban Muslims from entering the Untied States.
Walters asked, “Do you regret your bans on Muslims, which some people think is un-American?”
Trump replied, “Not at all. We have to do the right thing. Somebody in this country has to say what’s right. I have great respect and love — I have people that I have tremendous relationships with, they’re Muslim. and Barbara, they agree with me 100 percent. It’s short-term. Let our country get its act together. They knocked down the World Trade Center, they tried doing it twice. Other things have happened. They have a lot of — there are people that have tremendously bad intentions. We have to be tough, we have to smart and we have to be vigilant.”
Walters asked, “What is short-term?”
Trump answered, “It could be very quickly, if our country could get its act together. We don’t know what’s happening. We have a president that doesn’t have a clue. We don’t know what’s happening. We need toughness and smartness and we have to do it quickly.”
Walters said, “There are many, even in your own party, who think that ISIS is going to like your rhetoric. That your words are putting us in greater danger.”
Trump said, “I’m the worst thing that’s ever happened to ISIS. The people in my party fully understand that. They’re running against me, for the most part they have no poll numbers. I’m leading by a lot. They get it. They’re trying to get publicity for themselves. You know, when I came out against illegal immigration, everybody said the same thing. two weeks later, everybody was on my side, including the members of my own party.”
Walters asked, “Are you a bigot?”
Trump answered, “Not at all. Probably the least of anybody you’ve ever met…Because I’m not. I’m a person that has common sense. I’m a smart person. I know how to run things. I know how to make America great again. This is about making America great again.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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