Are Muslims Required To Register In A Database

NEWTON, Iowa — Donald Trump "would certainly implement" a database system tracking Muslims in the United States, the Republican front-runner told NBC News on Thursday night.

"I would certainly implement that. Absolutely," Trump said in Newton, Iowa, in between campaign town halls.

"There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases," he added. "Nosotros should have a lot of systems."

When asked whether Muslims would be legally obligated to sign into the database, Trump responded, "They have to be — they have to be."

On Friday morning, Trump rival Jeb Bush-league called the comments "but wrong."

"You talk virtually internment, you talk nigh closing mosques, you talk nigh registering people. That's but wrong. I don't intendance virtually campaigns," he said on CNBC. "Information technology's non a question of toughness. Information technology'due south to manipulate people's angst and their fears. That's not force, that's weakness."

Hillary Clinton also denounced Trump's argument on Twitter.

Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, sounded incredulous when he was asked about Trump's comments, telling NBC News: "We're kind of at a loss for words."

"What else can you compare this to except to prewar Nazi Deutschland?" Hooper asked. "In that location's no other comparison, and [Trump] seems to think that'due south perfectly OK."

Rabbi Jack Moline, executive director of the nonprofit Interfaith Alliance, drew the same comparison Thursday night.

"My father was in Globe War Two, and he fought to preserve America against what the Nazis were doing," Moline told NBC News.

"This is exactly why there is an America, to non be like that," he said.

Trump was repeatedly asked to explain how his idea was different. Four times, he responded: "You tell me."

He also ignored a question of whether there would be consequences for Muslims who do not register into the hypothetical database.

Asked where they would be registered, the real estate mogul said Muslims would exist signed upward at "different places."

"I't'southward all almost management," he said. "Our country has no management."

Trump tied his reasoning for the database to the need to identify who is in the country legally.

"It would stop people from coming in illegally," Trump said. "We have to end people from coming into our country illegally."

During a town hall that aired just earlier making those remarks, Trump reiterated his calls not to allow Syrian refugees into the land, saying bringing them "into this country is suicide. I call information technology the Trojan horse."

Ben Carson, currently 2nd in contempo national polling, suggested Thursday morning in Alabama that trying to distinguish terrorists among Syrian refugees coming into the United States would be like having "a rabid dog running around your neighborhood."

"Doesn't mean that you hate all dogs, by any stretch of the imagination," Carson said. "Simply you're putting your intellect into motion and you're thinking how do I protect my children."