However, at other times in his speech, he seemed more skeptical of the idea, telling the crowd of approximately 5,000 that the move would only be spun by his opponents.
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While some left the gathering at Trump’s skyscraper in midtown Manhattan with hopes their message had resonated, Trump said afterward he had no plans to change his approach, which he said had taken him to “first position in every single poll”.
But if there had indeed been thousands of people celebrating, “I think I would have known that for sure”, Giuliani said.
The meeting became a flashpoint after Trump’s campaign announced on November 25 that “a coalition of 100 African American Evangelical pastors and religious leaders” would endorse him after the Monday meeting. “The kids in the housing development came in and beat them up”. But Kovaleski has since said he never heard about “thousands or even hundreds” of people celebrating and that he doesn’t recall the allegations of isolated celebrations ever being confirmed.
Neither outlet could find any specific evidence to corroborate Trump’s allegation, though there were a handful of reports of rumors that there were celebrations in New Jersey, along with images of Palestinians celebrating overseas. “Yes”, New Day co-anchor Chris Cuomo admitted. However, many within the Hispanic community have been put off by Trump’s stance on immigration and earlier remarks widely seen as demeaning Mexicans and Latinos in general. “I stick by it. Hundreds of people have confirmed it”, Mr. Trump said. “I’ve been politically correct all my life and it hasn’t paid off”, Murray said. “It’s easier to do this”, Trump said.
Trump has pointed to Kovaleski’s story as evidence that his claim that “thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the World Trade Center’s collapse.
Trump is trying to bolster his support among non-whites, a growing electoral force that helped propel President Barack Obama’s two victories. “I’m not going to take it back”.
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Trump’s increasingly inflammatory comments about Muslims and immigrants are causing party rivals to step up attacks against him and some conservatives to label him a “fascist”. “If thousands of people were demonstrating and he saw it on television, there must be some tape of it somewhere”, he said.
