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Trump backs away from ISIS claim, says it was ‘sarcasm’

In other words, the Republican nominee for president is running on a campaign to kill the First Amendment.

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“So I said the founder of ISIS“, Trump recalled to the crowd, after accusing the president of being “so weak and so bad” that he allowed the Islamic State to grow.

Trump was scheduled to hold rallies in Erie and Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Friday. After Hewitt asked if Trump meant that the Obama’s administration’s policies in the Middle East had created a vacuum that gave rise to ISIS, Trump insisted that his statement was literal. Instead, Trump insisted Obama “was the founder of ISIS, absolutely”. At a news conference July 27, he said “I hope” Russian intelligence services would hack Clinton’s emails. He was the most valuable player.

“ISIS will hand her the most valuable player award”.

Clinton criticised his plan as one that would give “super big tax breaks to large corporations and the really wealthy, just like him”, then released her own tax documents and demanding he do the same.

Trump kicked off last week trying to refocus his campaign on his economic vision, making more sharp criticism of USA trade policy and calling for cuts in taxes and government regulations to spur investment and increase jobs.

It was only two days earlier that Trump blamed the media for making much ado about nothing after he suggested during a rally that gun rights enthusiasts might find a way to stop Clinton if elected.

Minutes after releasing her returns, Clinton tweeted that it’s possible Trump paid no tax at all. “It was said in a sarcastic manner, obviously”, he told Fox News.

Polls show Clinton ahead by as many as 10 points.

A new opinion poll showed Trump losing ground in three crucial states.

Militi says that though it appears the majority of users are Trump supporters, he has seen a cross-section of age, gender and geography. But as he faces heightened scrutiny during the final months of the presidential campaign, Trump’s jokes have put his loyal allies in the uncomfortable position of having to publicly stand up for him no matter how provocative his remarks. As Trump repeated the claim more than a dozen times, interviewers sought to ensure Trump wasn’t being misconstrued.

That is especially so against the backdrop of Trump’s repeated accusations that Obama and Clinton have been soft on terrorism, his allegations of an “almost criminal” conspiracy that allowed Americans to die at the USA consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the “lock her up” chants heard about Clinton at many Trump rallies, Zelizer said. “That’s how we got into this situation - ’No I mean founder, I said founder, ‘” he said.

The former secretary of state’s use of a private email server at the State Department has complicated her campaign, particularly as she continues to battle questions from voters about her trustworthiness and honesty. He mocked the “poor, pathetic” television pundits who try to figure him out and said, “They can’t!”

Sensing progress, Hewitt probed a little further, and Trump seemed to be coming around, saying that if Obama “would have done things properly (in managing the withdrawal from Iraq), you wouldn’t have had ISIS”.

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Taken in a sarcastic light, Trump’s words would be amount to a mockery of…

Trump Wasn’t Being ‘Sarcastic’ About ISIS Here’s What He Was Up To 
    
          
      
      REUTERS  Eric Thayer