“This is shocking rhetoric. It should be denounced by all seeking to lead this country. –H,” Hilary Clinton tweeted, | Getty Clinton: Trump's rhetoric on Muslims 'shocking'

Hillary Clinton condemned Donald Trump’s call to require Muslims to register in a database, calling his idea “shocking.”

“This is shocking rhetoric. It should be denounced by all seeking to lead this country. –H,” she tweeted, linking to a New York Times story, quoting Trump as saying he'd "absolutely" require Muslims to do so.


In an interview with NBC news Thursday night, Trump was asked to clarify comments he had made to Yahoo News, saying he would not rule out such a registry for Muslims if he were president.

“Should there be a database system that tracks the Muslims in this country?” an NBC reporter asked Trump at an event in Newton, Iowa.

“There should be a lot of systems. Beyond database, we should have a lot of systems. And today, you can do it,” Trump said. “I would certainly implement that — absolutely.”

He said the database would stop people from coming into the United States illegally. And he could accomplish it with “good management procedures,” he said.

The other two Democratic presidential candidates also rebuked Trump.

Bernie Sanders called the statement "outrageous and bigoted."

"What an outrageous and bigoted statement. @realDonaldTrump should be ashamed of himself," the Vermont senator tweeted.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley addressed Trump's comments Friday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"When you hear people like Donald Trump talking about wanting to do ID cards based on religion, what the hell is that? I mean, how is that at all American?" he asked.

A top Clinton donor, Univision Chairman Haim Saban, suggested that Muslims should receive more scrutiny in an interview with Hollywood publication The Wrap Wednesday.

“I’m not suggesting we put Muslims through some kind of a torture room to get them to admit that they are or they’re not terrorists,” he said. “But I am saying we should have more scrutiny.”

He later said that he regretted "making a religious distinction as opposed to a geographical one,” according to The Washington Post.

The Clinton campaign distanced itself somewhat from Saban by pointing to her stance denouncing religious tests rather than commenting on his views, according to the Post.