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Trump insists Obama founded ISIS, then says it was sarcasm

Other Republican politicians have made the point in the past that the Obama administration’s foreign policy gave rise to terrorism in the Middle East.

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“Last night, you said the president was the founder of ISIS”, Hewitt said. The release comes as part of a court mandate that the agency release batches of Clinton’s email correspondence from her time as secretary of state every 30 days starting June 30.

“ISIS will hand [Hillary Clinton] the most valuable player award”, Trump said.

At a rally Wednesday Trump said Obama founded ISIS.

President Obama did not, in fact, establish the terrorist organization. Trump strongly denied that, but a number of Republican officials cringed.

He eyed a reset Monday by rolling out his economic policies.

Trump has previously criticised Clinton for supporting the Iraq War in 2003 while she was a U.S. senator.

The following day, Trump caused alarm when he suggested “Second Amendment people” – Americans who support gun rights – could act against Clinton.

“Normally you want to clean up; he made a bigger mess out of it”.

IS was founded in 2013, months after Clinton left the State Department.

In an interview on Thursday morning, Trump defended the remarks. Clearly, there’s culpability. There’s a lot we could have done in Iraq.

Republicans frequently trace the birth of Islamic State to the Obama administration’s decision to withdraw the last US forces from Iraq by the end of 2011. But GOP strategist Mike DuHaime, who advised Trump ally Chris Christie’s presidential bid, said there could be benefits to Trump’s newfound self-awareness.

Trump refused to back down, asking on CNBC: “Is there something wrong with saying that?”

“He was the founder of ISIS, absolutely”, Trump said. “All I do is tell the truth, I’m a truth teller”. All I do is tell the truth.

Trump’s commentary also seemed to echo an opinion expressed by a leader he says he respects, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Family members of Democratic president John F. Kennedy, shot to death in 1963, expressed revulsion over Trump for voicing “the possibility of political assassination”.

A group of about 70 Republicans, including five former members of Congress, called on the Republican National Committee to stop helping Trump in the wake of his recent remarks and instead focus on getting members of Congress re-elected. It’s the job of the president of the United States, of our commander in chief, to defend the Constitution.

She also attacked Trump for his economic positions, saying he was peddling a “myth” that “he will stick it to the rich and powerful”. “Her only competition is Barack Obama”, he said.

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Corker, R-Tenn., first said he believed Trump may have been referring to the vacuum caused by the decision to remove troops from Iraq in 2011 and the unrest after Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi was deposed the same year.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves after speaking to the National Association of Home Builders Thursday Aug. 11 2016 in Miami Beach Fla. AP