Hillary Clinton told an Israeli TV news show that Islamist extremists are praying for a Donald Trump presidency, prompting an enraged rebuke from the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign.
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“I think that when you serve in the armed forces, that’s a very special situation”, Trump said.
The televised “Commander-in-Chief” forum on Wednesday, attended by military veterans, was the first time Trump and Clinton had squared off on the same stage since accepting their parties’ White House nominations in July, although they did not appear at the same time.
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.
Another tidbit: Republican voters view Hillary Clinton (-86) and Barack Obama (-74) far more unfavorably than Putin (-27), and Democratic voters also view Trump (-75) more unfavorably than the Russian president (-54). “I think maybe the Democrats are putting that out”, Trump said.
Clinton’s lead over Trump in national opinion polls has weakened in recent days.
The event offered a prelude to how Clinton and Trump will deal with questions on national security issues in their three upcoming presidential debates later in September and in October.
Clinton’s remarks followed a Wednesday night (Thursday NZT) national security forum where the presidential candidates made back-to-back appearances. She reiterated that she had made mistakes in relying on a personal email account and private server as secretary of state and in voting for the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a senator. The issue has raised questions about whether she can be trusted to serve as president.
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Clinton suggested she agreed with Democrats who say she is being held to a different standard in the White House race.
Ryan went on to criticize Putin for cyberattacks on the USA political system.
Trump quickly abandoned Lauer’s entreaties to avoid attacking his opponent and focus on what he would do if elected president in November.
“She’s been there for 30 years”, Trump said.
The event brought together the meticulously prepared Clinton, 68, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, and Trump, 70, a NY businessman whose brash, freewheeling style has allowed him to dominate the headlines during his campaign. Trump has condemned the war during his campaign and said he would avoid lengthy conflicts in the Middle East. But she defended her support for United States military intervention to help oust a dictator in Libya, despite the chaotic aftermath. Clinton said in a preview of a longer interview embedded on Israeli news websites. Republicans have made much of the fact that the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, was killed in an Islamist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. She also flushed out several national security priorities if she is elected, including trying to take out the leader of the Islamic State and vowing to defeat the extremist group without putting USA troops on the ground in Iraq or Syria.
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A senior adviser said ahead of the speech that Trump would make sure the additional spending was fully paid for but did not explain how.
