Trump tries to pull back from support for Muslim database

Donald Trump is trying to back away from his support for a government database to track Muslims in the United States, an idea that drew sharp rebukes from his Republican presidential rivals and disbelief from legal experts.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called the prospect of a registry "abhorrent." Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said the idea was "unnecessary" and not something Americans would support. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has largely avoided criticizing Trump throughout the 2016 campaign, said, "I'm not a fan of government registries of American citizens."
     
The first reference to a database came in a Trump interview with Yahoo News published Nov. 19. When asked about requiring Muslims to register in a database or carry a form of special identification noting their religion, Trump said, "We're going to have to look at a lot of things very closely."
     
Trump was pressed on the idea of a registry by an NBC News reporter Nov. 19 evening. Asked if there should be a database system for tracking Muslims in the United States, Trump said, "There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases." The reporter asked if that was something Trump would put in place as president. Trump replied: "I would certainly implement that. Absolutely."
     
Trump also told the reporter that Muslims would "have to be" registered.
     
In an interview on Fox News Channel on Nov. 20 evening, Trump tried to clarify his position. "I want a watch list for the Syrian refugees that (President Barack) Obama's going to let in if we don't stop him as Republicans," he said.
     
He also said he had had trouble hearing the NBC reporter's questions.
     
He addressed the issue during a rally in Alabama on Nov. 21, telling a crowd that...