Republican Donald Trump on Friday backed away from comments calling President Barack Obama and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton the founders of the militant group Islamic State, while the Republican Party sought to project unity behind their candidate.
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Ahead of rallies in Pennsylvania on Friday, Trump continued to lash out on Twitter at the media for harping on his every word and for being biased against him.
But in a tweet Friday criticizing CNN’s coverage, he bemoaned the network reporting his assertions “so seriously”, tweeting, “THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?”.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word “sarcasm” is defined as the use of remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what they say, made in order to hurt someone’s feelings or to criticise something in a humorous way.
“ISIS gained tremendous strength during Hillary Clinton’s term as Secretary of State”, he tweeted. “It’s absurd for him to say that Obama and Clinton are founders of ISIS – and he can’t blame the media for this”.
Later, Trump’s spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany got schooled by CNN’s guest host John Berman – textbook style – on who exactly ISIS is and its founder. “I gave him the most valuable player award”. Therefore, he was the founder of ISIS. He is the founder of ISIS.
In a second tweet, Clinton said, “Anyone willing to sink so low, so often should never be allowed to serve as our Commander-in-Chief”.
This political shitshow began Wednesday, when Trump said at a Florida rally, “ISIS is honoring President Obama”.
Trump has blamed Obama’s decision to pull USA forces from Iraq in 2011 for destabilizing the Middle East and creating a situation in which Islamic State militants could thrive.
“I just do not think insults and bullying is how we are to get things done”, Clinton said as she laid out her economic plan Thursday in Warren, Michigan.
“I know what you meant”, said Hewitt.
“I think I’m not flawless”. As far as I’m concerned, and I will say it and I will say it to anybody that wants to listen, he is a founder of ISIS.
The next day, Trump insisted he was simply exhorting gun-rights supporters to vote in the election, even though he had described a post-election scenario in which Clinton is already president.
Trump was clearly serious, and he can not rewrite history to say he was being sarcastic. “The President has been trying to play down ISIS like it’s not that big of a deal, like they are not as powerful”, he said. Barack Obama’s 2011 retreat from Iraq is also referred to as a contributing factor in the formation of the group. After saying he hoped Russian Federation would hack Hillary Clinton’s emails and release their findings, Trump was challenged about whether he was actually calling for a foreign government to commit espionage against the United States in an effort to influence an election.
Some Republicans see a small silver lining in Trump talking more about Clinton.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a chart as he speaks to the National Association of Home Builders, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, in Miami Beach, Fla.
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“We’re gonna build a wall, believe me folks!” he tells the crowd in one instance.
