Democrats are livid that at a televised forum on national security broadcast live from NY on Wednesday night, Mr Trump appeared to get an easier ride from the NBC moderator, Matt Lauer, than she did.
Advertisement
But in the wake of a performance at Wednesday night’s NBC “Commander-in-Chief Forum” that some observers saw as sub-par, Clinton appeared to have decided it was finally time to meet the demands of her press corps.
The Republican nominee has hammered Clinton for voting in 2002 to authorize the war, citing it as evidence that she lacks the judgment to lead the nation’s armed forces. Trump spoiled the softball questions lobbed his way with unforced errors including praise for Vladimir Putin, attacking the US military leadership as “rubble” and discussing his classified national security briefings.
During the forum, which took place at the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan, Trump said under “President Obama and Hillary Clinton the generals have been reduced to rubble”. “Our leaders did not follow what they were recommending”. And he can’t seem to stop himself with the praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“But we are in a stronger position than we would have been to deal with this other malicious behavior because of the nuclear agreement”, she said.
The shock, for me, was the realization that most Americans inhabit a very different news environment than professional journalists. You hear me? She had a press conference! .
“I have said that my voting to give President Bush that authority was, from my perspective, my mistake”, Clinton said. Lauer also could have pointed out Thursday that Trump’s statement about Iraq had been fact-checked and voters could investigate it for themselves, said Alan Schroeder, author of “Presidential Debates: 50 Years of High-Risk TV”.
It was the first time the candidates had appeared back-to-back at an event since they secured their parties’ nominations, and the evening offered a preview of their first debate on September 26.
Image: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Trump, who has never held elected office, has criticized Clinton’s judgment for backing the 2003 Iraq war and her support for the US intervention in Libya in 2011.
Some of the biggest obstacles facing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ahead of November’s election are the candidates’ so-called “scandals”.
With Johnson and Stein combined and the 5 percent who are undecided, almost one in four likely OH voters are opting out of the Clinton-Trump choice, the poll shows. And she pledged to hold weekly Oval Office meetings with representatives from the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs to stay abreast of health care for veterans. 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 don’t even know how you can credibly make the claim to begin with”, the Wisconsin Republican said during an interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show”, a conservative talk radio program. “And I could see myself working that out”.
The most galling moment came when Donald Trump repeated his demonstrably false claim that he was “totally against the war in Iraq”, and Lauer never pressed him on it. He replied, “Yeah, I guess so”.
“She’s been there for 30 years”, Trump said.
Advertisement
Sexual assault is one of the toughest problems for the military services today, one they have struggled to address under scrutiny from Congress.
