The U.S. presidential candidates appeared back-to-back on the same stage for the first time during NBC’s “commander-in-chief” forum, answering questions about national security in front of a live TV audience aboard the decommissioned USS Intrepid, which is now a floating museum in NY. NBC and Lauer took pains to squeeze as many questions into the hour-long forum as possible. The event served as a preview for voters of the candidates’ trio of debates later this fall.
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Matt Lauer first welcomed Hillary Clinton for her 30-minute shift in front of the small audience of veterans aboard the USS Intrepid in NY. FBI Director James Comey had said she was “extremely careless” in her handling of classified material but decided not to prosecute her.
Clinton acknowledged that using the personal server was “a mistake” and something she “should not have done”.
Clinton responded, saying she did handle classified information that came to her properly, but never in her emails did she receive something marked with the classified “header” that normally accompanies official government communications that require security clearance.
“I communicated about classified material on a wholly separate system”.
“I make no excuses for it”, she said.
When asked about her 2002 vote to send troops to Iraq, Clinton admitted that, too, was a mistake. We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again.
Trump told the forum he was “totally against the war in Iraq” because it has de-stabilized the Middle East, and added that “I have good judgment”.
The Republican also repeated an incorrect claim that he was opposed to the war with Iraq before the invasion.
Trump on his plans for ISIS: “And let me tell you, if I like maybe a combination of my plan and the generals” plan or the generals’ plan. if I like their plan, Matt, I’m not gonna call you up and say, “Matt, we have a great plan.’ This is what Obama does”.
Trump said past praise from Russian President Vladimir Putin will not affect his policy toward Russia, though he also said that Putin has “been a leader far more than our president has been a leader”.
Clinton has repeatedly slammed Trump on the campaign trail for his embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has returned in kind, calling Trump “a colourful and talented man.”
The GOP nominee faced questions about his own preparedness to lead the military, and for assertions he’s made in the past that he “know [s] more about ISIS than the generals do”. “I think when he calls me “brilliant” I’ll take the compliment”.
“I think that that’s absolutely correct”, he said during the forum. Retired Air Force Lt. Jon Lester asked “Secretary Clinton, how can you expect those such as myself who were and are entrusted with America’s most sensitive information to have any confidence in your leadership as president when you clearly corrupted our national security?”
Ahead of the forum, Mr Trump rolled out a new plan to boost military spending by tens of billions of dollars, including major increases in the number of active troops, fighter planes, navy ships and submarines.
Even the very network Lauer works for issued a post-forum fact check outlining Trump’s falsity. He both insisted he has a private blueprint for defeating the extremist group and that he would demand a plan from military leaders within 30 days of taking office. “I take it very seriously”. But do you want me to start naming some of the things that President Obama does at the same time? She said she had “an absolute rock steadiness” to be able to make tough decisions.
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Her case has been bolstered by numerous Republican national security experts who have spoken out against their party’s nominee, including former defence secretary William Cohen, who announced his support for Clinton on Wednesday. In Trump’s portion of the program, he said his business experience qualifies him to be commander in chief.
