While Trump has often complained that US forces are not large enough or well-equipped, he’s also said that he’d save money by cutting waste and ensuring that contractors aren’t getting sweetheart deals due to their connections or lobbying efforts.
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The morning after the two major party candidates participated in a “Commander-in-Chief” forum Wednesday night, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton came out swinging against rival Donald Trump, calling him a “gift for ISIS” and “temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified”.
“He must change not only his tone but also present concrete policies to modernize our broken immigration system, including providing a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants”, Mr. Vargas said.
Speaking to reporters in Laos, Obama said Thursday that Trump confirms his belief that Trump isn’t qualified to be president “every time he speaks” and added: “The most important thing for the public and the press is to just listen to what he says and follow up and ask questions to what appear to be either contradictory or uninformed or outright wacky ideas”.
Clinton even did her best to banter with a press she clearly doesn’t much like or care for: “I like the hat”, she told one man.
He suggested that U.S. generals had been blocked by the policies of Obama and Clinton, who served as Obama’s first secretary of state.
“I had a very short window of time to convey the seriousness with which I would approach the issues that face our country”, she said.
Wednesday’s forum served as a preview of sorts for Clinton and Trump’s highly-anticipated presidential debates. The candidates will face off for the first time on September 26 at Hofstra University.
By virtue of a coin flip, Clinton took the stage first and quickly found herself responding at length to questions about her years in government.
Matt Lauer, the moderator, pressed her about her handling of emails from a private server while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. But she defended her support for US military intervention to help oust a dictator in Libya, despite the chaotic aftermath.
Trump also called for “a court system within the military”, seemingly unaware that the military has always been governed by a court system separate from civilians.
The announcement of the Friday meeting also seems timed to play off many liberals’ complaints that the Wednesday night forum, hosted by NBC’s morning show host Matt Lauer, was too focused on the past – namely, Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state and her vote as a senator from NY to authorize the Iraq War in 2002, both moves which Clinton has said were mistakes – rather than her ideas for keeping the country safe if elected president. And for the first time, he opened the door to granting legal status to people living in the USA illegally who join the military.
“I’ll let you all ponder that”, she said, before noting that she thought a tweet from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus criticizing her for not smiling during Wednesday’s forum demonstrated the unseriousness of the GOP nominee’s campaign. “And I could see myself working that out”.
Clinton struck a similar tone when discussing her support for the Iraq war, although not without pointing out that Trump also backed the invasion but has refused to acknowledge his support.
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Pace reported from Washington.
