Donald Trump shot back at critics who attacked him for failing to correct a man's false claims about the president, tweeting Saturday that no matter what, he's in a "no win situation."
"Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!" the GOP presidential candidate began in a series of tweets.
"This is the first time in my life that I have caused controversy by NOT saying something," Trump added.
Related: Trump Doesn't Challenge Man's Anti-Muslim, False Obama Claims
Trump was at a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Thursday night when a questioner in the audience said President Barack Obama is Muslim.
"We have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims," the man said. "We know our current president is one. You know he's not even an American. We have training camps growing when they want to kill us. My question: When can we get rid of them?"
Obama, who is a Christian, was previously the target of Trump when the real estate tycoon in 2012 questioned whether the president is even a U.S. citizen.
On Thursday, Trump didn't challenge the man's claim about Obama or his anti-Muslim sentiments, and his campaign later said that he had interpreted the man to be asking about getting rid of the alleged "training camps," not Muslims.
Trump on Twitter turned the tables on his critics, saying they wouldn't come to his defense if the roles were reversed and that the media would have attacked him if he had cut the questioner off.
Other presidential candidates — both Republican and Democrat — pounced on the controversy as Trump canceled an appearance in South Carolina on Friday, citing a business transaction.
Hillary Clinton asked all of the candidates to start acting more presidential and said on the campaign trail Friday that Trump should have stood up to the man.
"I would call on him and all the candidates to stop this descent into the kind of hateful, mean-spirited divisive rhetoric we’ve seen too much of," she said.
