At the NBC “Commander in Chief” forum Wednesday night, Clinton and Trump were separately questioned by anchor Matt Lauer on various national security and foreign policy topics. Former Sec. of State Clinton said that there was no evidence that her system was hacked.
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Mr Lauer asked Mr Trump about his tweet during the so-called Commander-in-Chief Forum in NY.
Earlier in the day, Trump was in Philadelphia, where he laid out a plan to build up the military that he dubbed “peace through strength”.
Wednesday’s forum served as a preview of sorts for Clinton and Trump’s highly-anticipated presidential debates.
On how she could be trusted after her controversial handling of emails during her tenure as Secretary of State, Clinton argued there were no clear markings indicating the classified nature of the some of the emails found on her private server. Here are five important moments from that hour.
But the takeaway was still the same – Clinton presenting herself with the steadiness to serve as commander-in-chief; Trump as the leader who has the common sense to avoid the foreign policy mistakes of the past. “She knows the sacrifices of families who have lost children”, said James A. Clark Jr. with the El Paso County Democrats. “I’ve been very close to the vets”.
“Hillary Clinton’s legacy in Iraq, Libya, Syria has produced only turmoil and suffering and death”, he told the audience. “There were no headers”.
“I would like to have more on strategy on the Middle East and so on”, said Maury Marcus.
And there was more outcry during Lauer’s segment with Trump. And Lauer asked Clinton about her vote to authorize the war in Iraq, which she later said was a mistake. “I will do everything in my power to make sure our men and women in the military are fully prepared for any challenge they may have to face on our behalf, but I will also be as careful as I can in making the most significant decisions any president and commander and chief can make about sending our men and women into harms way”.
The former governor of New Mexico added that Syria is “a mess” and “the only way we deal with Syria is to join hands with Russian Federation to diplomatically bring that (to) an end”. “We’re to defeat ISIS without committing American ground troops”.
Trump said that the issue should be handled within the military but only barely acknowledged that such a system already now exists within the military and is the subject of criticism by advocates of sexual assault survivors.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are set to appear in a televised forum dedicated to national security on Wednesday night, as recent polls point to their race for the White House narrowing.
“The generals under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have not been successful”, he said. But he also noted he still has “great faith in the military”.
“I have great judgement”, the Republican frontrunner said. “If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is”.
The GOP nominee again defended Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking at a news conference in Laos on Thursday, Obama says he continues to believe Trump isn’t qualified to be president and that “every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed”.
He said if Putin “says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him”.
Trump responded by calling it “a correct tweet”.
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Trump had plenty to say about that record, far more than about his own.
