“New leadership fast!” said the Republican presidential front-runner as he led the party in criticizing Mr Obama’s State of the Union Address. “We are training, arming, and supporting forces who are steadily reclaiming territory in Iraq and Syria”, he said.
Advertisement
This does not include those who watched via streaming or online.
In his address, President Obama extolled what he believes are the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s accomplishments.
More importantly, Trump complained that Obama didn’t use the words “radical Islamic terrorism” in his speech.
Obama never mentioned Trump by name. Republican leaders who vowed to make him a one-term president failed at that, but they’ve had great success in undermining many of his policies and tarnishing his brand.
Trump also said that Obama “doesn’t want to talk about California, what happened there with the 14 people killed – viciously killed by the two radicalized people”, referring to the December 2 shooting in San Bernardino. The president says IS is made up of killers, fanatics and twisted souls, and that the US will hunt them down and destroy them.
Trump repeatedly said Obama is “living in fantasy land”.
On this topic, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who rebutted Obama’s address. offered some support for the President.
“Over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands”, Obama said.
Speaking at the University of Nebraska in Ohama, Mr. Obama railed against candidates “peddling this fiction” that America is getting weaker and that the solution is “looking meaner, talking tougher, carpet bombing wherever we want”. “That may work as a TV sound bite, but it doesn’t pass muster on the world stage”. America’s destiny, the President said, was imperiled by a political system festering in malice, gridlock and in the grip of the rich and the powerful.
Observing that “instability will continue for decades” in many parts of the world including Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said both al-Qaeda and ISIS pose a direct threat to the United States. “America is at its best when we see each other as one people”. But he urged them not to fall prey to the periodic temptation that has emerged throughout history to alienate minorities and resist social change. He reminded us that our vision of a fair and just society can only be realized when we participate as citizens.
“I’m going to try to make it a little shorter”, he said. “Now, we don’t ever have to hear him give another State of the Union”.
Advertisement
“Climate change is just one of many issues where our security is linked to the rest of the world, and that’s why the third big question that we have to answer together is how to keep America safe and strong without either isolating ourselves or trying to nation- build everywhere there’s a problem”, he said.
