I love the Muslims: Donald Trump

Trump says he has Muslim friends but religion’s extreme elements are responsible for terrorist attacks

In what would appear as a sudden departure from his earlier stance, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said on Saturday Muslims are ‘great people.’

"I love the Muslims. I think they're great people," Trump said, while responding to a question whether they were a threat to the United States.

Read: Trump considers getting 'rid of' Muslims when president

As Trump addressed high school students at their homecoming in Iowa, one student challenged his earlier comment where he had said he would consider getting ‘rid of’ Muslims. The student said she considered Muslim-Americans to be an important part of the country and asked whether the Republican presidential front-runner would consider having a Muslim in his cabinet or on his ticket. "Oh, absolutely," Trump responded. "No problem with that."

Speaking to CNN, Trump further said that he had friends who were Muslims, but that the religion’s extreme elements were responsible for terrorist attacks. "We do have a problem with radical Muslims, there's no question about that," Trump added.

Read: Trump says not 'morally obligated' to defend Obama

After his statements at the New Hampshire town hall meeting, where he had also failed to correct a supporter who had said that US President Barack Obama was Muslim and not American, Trump had come under fire from his critics. Thereafter, he had avoided the press and cancelled three events in South Carolina and Iowa.

In a rapid-fire series of tweets on Saturday, the billionaire real estate mogul responded to a barrage of criticism of his handling of the New Hampshire incident.

“Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don’t think so!” Trump wrote.

In another tweet, he said, "If I would have challenged the man, the media would have accused me of interfering with that man's right of free speech. A no win situation!"

#MakeAmericaGreatAgain #Trump2016 pic.twitter.com/O5v9oX3pyd

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2015

Read: “Dry it out and destroy it”: Why Pakistan should be wary of Donald Trump

Appearing unusually subdued, Trump advised students to stay away from alcohol and drugs and encouraged them to pursue professions they felt passionate about. The crowd was a mixture of supporters as well as opponents. Taylor Donner, a senior at Urbandale High School who attended Trump's speech said he was a fan. But there were others who were supporting different candidates including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

This article originally appeared on CNN