Clinton and Trump will both appear at a “commander in chief” forum on NBC on Wednesday night.
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Questioned back-to-back but not face-to-face, the presidential foes will address an audience of veterans and active-duty troops – and a national TV audience – from the decommissioned USS Intrepid, which is now a floating museum in NY.
A big chunk of Clinton’s appearance featured her steely, lawyer-like insistence that she did nothing improper with her private email server while secretary of state.
“Hillary with her serial dishonesty and corruption allegations, and Trump, just with everything – people are still trying to make that determination about both of them: Are either of these people qualified to do the job?” said Republican pollster Dan Judy of North Star Opinion Research.
“As I have said repeatedly, it was a mistake to have a personal account”, Clinton said.
Still, Clinton maintained she never mishandled classified information.
She said of classified material, “There is a header so there is no dispute at all so what is being communicated to or from someone is marked classified”. “I did exactly what I should have done and I take it very seriously – always have, always will”.
Clinton, also asked about the issue, pointed to her recently rolled out mental health policy agenda. “We’ve gotta do it with much more support from the Arabs and the Kurds who will fight on the ground against ISIS”, she said. It was aimed at rebutting Clinton’s arguments that she would be best positioned to lead the military and reassuring Republicans who have openly anxious that his provocative statements might undermine US alliances.
“I’m asking to be judged on the totality of my record”, said Clinton, who grew visibly irritated at times with the repeated focus on her past actions.
Trump’s rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, has tried to paint the billionaire businessman as erratic, making the case that his disposition would be a major liability on the world stage.
Trump has been criticized in the past for seeming to heap praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin and other strongmen.
“If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him”, Trump said.
The Morning News, which backed Ohio Gov. John Kasich during the primaries, cited Trump’s “authoritarian streak that should horrify limited-government advocates” and his “open admiration of Russia’s Vladimir Putin” as “alarming” reasons to oppose his candidacy.
“We want to deter, avoid and prevent conflict through our unquestioned military strength”, Trump declared.
Trump also says that, if he wins, he’ll instruct his generals to come up with a plan within 30 days “to defeat and destroy” the Islamic State group.
Lauer asked Trump whether he knows more about ISIS than President Barack Obama’s generals, a statement he has previously made.
The most problematic state where Clinton’s ad spending is dwarfing Trump is Nevada.
“I have a very substantial chance of winning”, he said.
The haul, raised in the late summer doldrums when candidates often struggle to collect large checks, is another sign that Trump has managed to quickly assemble a finance operation despite his historically late start to presidential fundraising.
271-a-18-(Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, Democratic presidential nominee, in broadcast of Commander-in-Chief Presidential Forum)-“from the mistakes”-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was asked to consider Iraq War veterans, and explain why she says the war they fought in was a mistake”.
Trump on Wednesday night said during a candidate forum that he trusts some generals, but not all, because they’ve been “reduced to rubble”.
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In the interview, she vows to defeat the militant group and adds, “I don’t want them to feel as if they can be getting more recruits because of our politics”.
