WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump expressed support for a mandatory database to track Muslims in the United States, and fellow candidate Ben Carson compared militant Syrians to "rabid" dogs.
Trump's comments came while campaigning Thursday in Iowa. The real estate mogul was asked by an NBC News reporter about the prospect of a database and whether Muslims would be required to be registered. In a video posted by the network, Trump said, "They have to be."
Asked whether Muslims would have to register at mosques, Trump said, "Different places. You sign up at different places. But it's all about management."
On Friday, Trump said on Twitter that he didn't suggest creating a database but instead was answering a question from a reporter. However, he did not disavow the prospect of a registry on social media or at an event Friday morning.
Trump has also voiced support for closing certain mosques as a way to contain the terror threat in the U.S.
His comments came after the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility, elevating fears in the U.S. and prompting calls for new restrictions on refugees fleeing war-torn Syria.
Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has challenged Trump's lead in the GOP primary, also addressed policy regarding Muslims after the Paris attacks.
"If there's a rabid dog running around in your neighborhood, you're probably not going to assume something good about that dog," Carson said Thursday. "It doesn't mean you hate all dogs, but you're putting your intellect into motion."
Asked Friday about a registry for Muslims, Carson said the U.S. should have a database on "every foreigner who comes into this country," but he rejected the idea of tracking U.S. citizens based on their religion.
"One of the hallmarks of America is that we treat everybody the same," he said. "If we're just going to pick out a particular group of people based on their religion, based on their race, based on some other thing, that's setting a pretty dangerous precedent."
The first reference to a database came in Trump's interview with Yahoo News published Thursday in which he did not reject the idea of requiring Muslims to register with the government or giving them special identification cards noting their religion.
"We're going to have to look at a lot of things very closely," Trump told Yahoo.
According to Yahoo, Trump also suggested he would consider no-warrant searches, saying, "We're going to have to do things that we never did before."
Trump was pressed on the database by NBC on Thursday evening. Later that night, Trump told reporters that he "never responded" to the questions from Yahoo and ignored follow-ups about his remarks to NBC.
Other candidates pushed back against Trump's comments.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called the prospect of a registry "abhorrent." Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said the idea was "unnecessary" and not something Americans would support. And Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said, "I'm not a fan of government registries of American citizens."
"The First Amendment protects religious liberty, and I've spent the past several decades defending the religious liberty of every American," Cruz told reporters in Sioux City, Iowa.
The U.S. House passed legislation this week further restricting Syrian and Iraqi refugees allowed into the United States. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has slotted the bill for possible Senate consideration, though it's unclear whether the chamber could get enough votes to override a threatened veto by President Barack Obama.
Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton challenged all Republican candidates to disavow Trump's comments. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont called Trump's words "outrageous and bigoted."
"This is shocking rhetoric," Clinton wrote on Twitter. "It should be denounced by all seeking to lead this country."
Several did just that.
"You're talking about internment, you're talking about closing mosques, you're talking about registering people, and that's just wrong," Bush said on CNBC.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said creating a national registry based on religion and closing mosques "will do nothing to keep us safer and shows a lack of understanding on how to effectively prevent terrorist attacks."
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said requiring people to register with the federal government because of their religion "strikes against all that we have believed in our nation's history."
Information for this article was contributed by Bill Barrow, Steve Peoples, Catherine Lucey, Julie Bykowicz and Mark Sherman of The Associated Press.
A Section on 11/21/2015