Donald Trump in GOP Debate: "A Lot" of Muslims Hate the US

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump doubled down in Thursday's GOP debate on his contention that Muslims hate the United States and mean the country harm. 

CNN moderator Jake Tapper used the Miami showdown to circle back on a question colleague Anderson Cooper had asked Trump in an interview that aired Wednesday.

"Last night you told CNN, 'Islam hates us,'" Tapper began. "Did you mean all 1.6 billion Muslims?"

Trump: "I mean a lot of them. I mean a lot of them."

The New York real estate magnate pushed ahead.

"I will tell you there's something going on that maybe you don't know about, maybe a lot of other people don't know about, but there's tremendous hatred, and I will stick with exactly what I said to Anderson Cooper."

Trump, who has proposed a blanket ban on Muslims entering the United States to protect Americans from terror attacks, told Cooper Wednesday, in part, "We have to be very vigilant. We have to be very careful. And we can't allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the United States."