By REGINA F. GRAHAM

Donald Trump says that he would ‘absolutely’ consider appointing a Muslim-American to his Cabinet if he’s elected president in 2016.

Trump made the latest comment while responding to questions from students at an appearance ahead of Urbandale High School’s homecoming dance in Iowa on Saturday night.

The billionaire has faced tremendous scrutiny after he failed to correct a New Hampshire town hall questioner who incorrectly stated that President Barack Obama is Muslim.

One of the students told the Republican presidential front-runner that she considered Muslim-Americans to be an important segment of the country and asked him if he would include one on his ticket or in his Cabinet, CNN reported.

Oh, absolutely.No problem with that,’ Trump responded.

‘I love the Muslims. I think they’re great people.’

The real estate mogul also told the students to avoid alcohol and drugs as well as cigarettes.

He encouraged the teens to follow their hearts and to do something they love, even it means making less money than they desire.

‘You represent so much. You represent the future. You represent something very important,’ he said.

‘You have to go and follow what you love, you have to do it.

‘And you just have to follow your heart and you’ll be successful.

‘And it may not be pure monetary success, because I know people that are the wealthiest people in the world and they’re not happy.’

A social media campaign brought The Donald to the celebration at the high school and hundreds of students, parents and others came to hear him speak.

Prior to visiting the high school, Trump spoke to about 1,000 Christian conservatives at an Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition presidential forum and banquet.

The moment he hit the stage, Trump told the crowd ‘I brought my Bible!’

He then read some of the messages he tweeted earlier on Saturday, in an effort to defend himself.

‘This is the first time in my life that I have caused controversy by not saying something,’ Trump told the audience.

‘If I would’ve challenged the man, that’s the man they said was somewhat maybe negative to the president, the media would’ve accused me of interfering with that man’s right of free speech. A no-win situation.’

Later on in his speech, Trump said that he’s a Presbyterian and that ‘Christians need support in our country and around the world.’

He stated that his ‘first priority’ of his administration would be ‘to preserve and protect religious liberty.’

In addition to Trump, eight GOP presidential hopefuls were scheduled to appear at the fundraising banquet held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, including former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former New York Governor George Pataki, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Ted Cruz.

Santorum asked the crowd to pledge their support once again for his presidential bid, casting himself as an outsider candidate with the ‘skills of an insider’ to get things done in Washington.

He also reminded audience members how they gave him a victory in the 2012 Iowa caucuses when he was at just two percent in the national polls.

Santorum said that while in Congress, he fought the tough issues on behalf of conservatives involving ‘life, marriage, faith and religious freedom’ and won’t hesitate to ‘shake things up’ if elected to put ‘this country back on the right track.’

When Cruz spoke to the audience, he reportedly drew an enthusiastic response as he criticized Republican congressional leaders.

He said that the GOP leaders are not doing enough to defund Planned Parenthood and accused them of ‘trying to pound all of us into submission.’

Addressing the crowded field of Republican candidates, Cruz said that voters should look for differences.

‘With me, you know what you’re going to get,’ Cruz told the audience.

Source: Mail Online