Donald Trump’s speech on foreign policy Monday focused in large part on his proposal to suspend immigration from risky parts of the world and impose a new system of “extreme vetting” that would subject applicants to questions about their personal ideology. “Viciously, if necessary”, Trump said.
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But Vice President Joe Biden, who on Monday hit the 2016 campaign trail with Clinton for the first time, trashed Trump as unqualified for the White House and accused him of endangering the lives of U.S. troops. Or if they would be asked if they watch CNN, which he says is disgusting and crooked.
In delivering this “major” speech on foreign policy, Trump pointed to higher cooperation with Russian Federation and Putin, saying “we could find common ground with Russian Federation in the fight against ISIS”.
Trump painted a rosy picture of the Middle East in the pre-Obama administration era, describing Libya as “stable”, Syria as “under control”, Egypt as being ruled “by a secular president and an ally of the United States”, and Iraq as “experiencing a reduction in violence”. The Republican nominee tapped Stephen Bannon – a combative conservative media executive with no presidential campaign experience – to serve as CEO of his White House bid.
In November, Clinton outlined her own plan for combating the Islamic State group and terrorism by winning the war in Iraq and Syria, disrupting worldwide networks and strengthening homeland security.
Of course you wouldn’t, unless you are a Trump zombie.
Clinton, stumping Monday in Scranton, Pennsylvania, with Vice President Joe Biden, slammed Trump’s policy proposals in confronting ISIS as erratic and inconsistent.
When Trump veered outside his apocalyptic comfort zone, his logic became a bit muddled. He warned that Trump’s false assertions last week about President Barack Obama founding the Islamic State could be used by extremists to target American service members in Iraq.
Trump’s contradictions didn’t end there.
“Using our immigration laws to screen out views we don’t agree with seems arguably un-American in terms of our devotion to free speech rights”, Mr Johnson said. When people started saying he was temperamentally unfit, he called Hillary the same.
The New York developer changed his tune after a shooting at an Orlando nightclub in June, saying he would temporarily ban visas from countries with a history of terrorism against the USA and other western nations.
The 70-year-old real estate tycoon said his administration will aggressively pursue joint and coalition military operations to crush and destroy ISIS.
The billionaire-turned-politician said that Obama-Clinton “adventures” in the Middle East have only led to “death, destruction, and tremendous financial loss” for the US. Instead, Trump repeated the untruths that he opposed both the Iraq War and intervention in Libya from the beginning, reversed his position on USA involvement with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and called for – rather than his previously proposed “complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the country – new screening procedures for immigrants seeking entry to the United States. “I call it extreme, extreme vetting”. “It’s hard to see what more the government could really do to weed out potential terrorists”, said Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.
Trump also took the opportunity in Monday’s speech to pronounce that “radical Islam” and the US are “at war” with one another. He called Clinton stupid and weak, saying she lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS.
Will Mr Trump’s plan make the United States safer?
But if Mr Trump were to follow the State Department’s list of other nations with smaller, established terrorist cells – which includes France, Belgium and the United Kingdom – that would bring the total to 40 nations which could fall under his ban.
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“It will do so by emphasising what we have in common – not what pulls us apart”, he added.
