“How can someone like (Lauer) not set the record straight on Trump’s bogus claim of being against the war in Iraq?” tweeted Glenn Kessler, fact-checking at The Washington Post.
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Trump agreed it’s “a massive problem”, and something should be done. In one instance, he said the United States should pull back thoroughly from Iraq, and then said troops should be left behind in “various sections where they have the oil”, to secure U.S. energy interests. According to notes released from Clinton’s interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, she said she relied on others with knowledge about handling classified files. Trump also cited Putin’s high approval rating in his country and said he has “been a leader far more than our president has been a leader”. But she promised more help for Iraqi and Kurdish forces now doing much of the fighting against the group, a not-so-subtle dig at her former boss, President Obama, and his handling of the crisis.
In a veiled jab at her rival last night, Clinton said the most important characteristic in a commander in chief is “steadiness”.
He had also criticised the parents of a slain Muslim soldier who had strongly denounced the real estate tycoon during the Democratic National Convention. This formulation, accompanied by his traditional refrain that he wasn’t going to telegraph his moves, contrasted sharply and negatively with Clinton’s rather conventional but still comprehensive approach to fighting ISIS from the air, on the ground (though not with United States combat forces), and in cyberspace.
Lauer asked Trump whether he knows more about ISIS than President Barack Obama’s generals, a statement he has previously made.
Trump has been challenged many times in this election to explain his early acceptance of the war.
Predictably, when asked about how he’d deal with ISIS, Donald Trump fell back on his new tack: That he’d ask the generals to develop a plan within 30 days about how to defeat and destroy ISIS.
Asked about how he would support victims of sexual assault in the military, Trump said it was a “massive problem”. He devoted about a third of his time with Clinton to questioning her about her use of a private email server and seemed to rush through topics that included domestic terrorism.
“No, but when I do come up with a plan that I like and that perhaps agrees with mine, or maybe doesn’t, I may love what the generals come up with”, Trump responded. “They are not going to get ground troops”.
Trump repeats false Iraq War claim: “I was totally against the war in Iraq”.
“There were no discussions about any of the covert actions in process being determined about whether or not to go forward”, she said.
“I have a lot of experience dealing with classified material”, Clinton insisted stoutly during the MSNBC live telecast, adding that “classified material has a header which has “top secret, ‘ ‘secret, ‘ ‘confidential” on it”.
Trump on military generals: “I think under the leadership Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble”. We are not going to put ground troops into Iraq ever again. “My opponent was for the war in Iraq”.
Even before promising a huge boost in military spending, Trump’s plans to cut taxes, expand infrastructure spending and leave untouched entitlement programs such as Social Security already threaten to add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit. Clinton said the government would have to “remove the stigma” surrounding mental health issues faced by veterans.
Trump at Wednesday night’s candidate forum.
A member in the audience asked Trump how he would deescalate tension with Russian Federation. I think he’s doing a very good job. “I think I’m in the best possible position to be able to understand that and prevent it”.
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Trump said he would not be influenced by Putin’s praise of him as “brilliant” (Putindenied a report he used the phrase) on a policy level, but also indicated he would repay it in kind on a personal level.
