Clinton began the NBC forum saying her long experience in government as a USA senator and secretary of state made her uniquely qualified to serve as president.
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The event at the Intrepid Air and Sea Museum in NY offered a prelude of how they will deal with questions on national security issues in their three upcoming presidential debates.
Clinton said defeating ISIS would be her “highest terrorism goal”. Donald Trump’s remarks, on the other hand, were nearly entirely policy-free, but with his typical bravado, he promised he’d bring impeccable judgment to the Oval Office.
Trump fired back at Clinton afterwards, saying her comments were an effort to make up for a poor performance during the security forum. “You have a fan”, Carvey, as Putin, said. “They have been reduced to a point where it’s embarrassing for our country”.
During his appearance at the NBC event in New York, Mr Trump was asked about the prevalence of sexual assaults by a member of the audience whose daughter was considering a career in the military.
“Last night was yet another test and Donald Trump failed yet again”.
Lauer asked: “But you have your own plan?” The Republican nominee launched into a lengthy condemnation of Obama’s decision to withdraw troops from Iraq. I also believe that it is imperative that we learn from the mistakes, like after-action reports are supposed to do.
Which might make you wonder: Why did it take so long? Nothing in his remarks addressed how he would approach the Middle East going forward.
Clinton, a former secretary of state, said his comments on the briefing were “totally inappropriate and undisciplined”.
Asked about her promise to not put troops in Iraq, she reiterated her belief that “putting a big contingent of American grounds troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria would not be in the best interest in the fight against ISIS an other terrorist groups”.
“He’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader”, Trump said. The Democrat was repeatedly challenged on her controversial email use at the State Department and her vote as a senator for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Her answers quickly devolved into a confusing back-and-forth over how public officials discussed America’s drone program, an open secret though technically classified. It didn’t really clarify the issue.
He said America’s top officers had been hamstrung by Obama and Clinton. An Air Force veteran pressed her on her “extensive record with military intervention” and asked if her “hawkish foreign policy will continue”. Clinton, when asked about her vote to authorize the war, said: “I have said that my voting to give President Bush that authority was, from my perspective, my mistake”, she said.
Clinton, meanwhile, demonstrated her fluency on foreign policy at Wednesday night’s forum, but still found herself defending her record.
Clinton, also asked about the issue, pointed to her recently rolled out mental health policy agenda.
Trump said at the forum that he’d be open to “working” a way for undocumented immigrants to serve in the U.S. military – a sharp contrast to his tone during a speech in Arizona last week where he said he would focus on deporting undocumented immigrants from the country.
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Putin is “very much of a leader”, Trump said on Wednesday in a televised national security forum, where he and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton each fielded 30 minutes of questions. “She tried to make up for her terrible performance last night”.
