Matt Lauer first welcomed Hillary Clinton for her 30-minute shift in front of the small audience of veterans aboard the USS Intrepid in NY. But the amount of time Lauer lingered on the topic drew befuddlement from Clinton’s backers and some second-guessing from other media members, who wondered why other weightier topics weren’t given the same attention.
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The former first lady and US senator also said it was “a mistake” to use private email while at the State Department, but denied suggestions that she mishandled classified information.
Clinton said none of the emails she sent or received were marked top secret, secret or classified, the usual way such material is identified. Left unmentioned was the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation refutes this claim.
Lauer went on to press Clinton for more details on her handling of classified information, asking if hostile actors could have accessed Clinton’s emails that were stored on her private server. Hardly a comfort to America’s 1.3 million active service members or her 21.8 million veterans.
Trump did especially badly on Wednesday when he was repeatedly pressed about stupid things he had said in the past: For example, that he knows more about ISIS than the generals do, or that Vladimir Putin is “highly respected within his own country and beyond” and is “getting an A” for leadership.
Former Army Captain Ernie Young asked how Clinton “will determine when and where to deploy troops directly into harm’s way”.
Trump, her Republican rival, wouldn’t detail how he would extinguish the Islamic State or outmaneuver Russian Federation, both challenges have eluded the Obama administration. She basically reiterated the Obama administration’s strategy of air power and support for the Arabs and the Kurds fighting the terror group. “And, by the way, since then, it’s gotten worse”. And we’re not putting ground troops into Syria.
It was left to the veterans to ask Trump about how to defeat ISIS, how to bring stability to the Middle East, how to stop veteran suicides and sexual violence in the military, and whether undocumented immigrants can serve in the armed forces.
There are now ground troops in both Iraq and Syria.
Matt Lauer, who moderated the sessions, to keep their answers about themselves rather than bash their opponent. When the host asked what Trump thinks prepares him for the role of commander-in-chief, he answered, “Well, I’ve built a great company. I’ve been all over the world”, Trump began. I’ve dealt with foreign countries. “I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Putin, and I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Russian Federation”.
Say he’ll say nice things about Putin as long as Putin says nice things about him. ‘I could tell – I’m pretty good with the body language I could tell they were not happy. I know what’s going on.
“Well, I think when he calls me brilliant, I’ll take the compliment, OK?”
Trump also countered Clinton’s accurate claim that he supported the Iraq War, recommending that Lauer read a 2004 issue of Esquire magazine. That was a record, Matt.
He claimed what he learned ‘is that our leadership, Barack Obama, did not follow what our experts. said to do’. They have been reduced to a point where it’s embarrassing for our country. But you’re hardly the first politician to promise a quick victory and a speedy homecoming. They’ve taken back Ramadi, Fallujah. “We’re going to leave Iraq on a certain day”. Clinton, when asked about her vote to authorize the war, said: “I have said that my voting to give President Bush that authority was, from my perspective, my mistake”, she said. “No not to take them out, but something has to happen”. Now we know it shouldn’t be too hard for her to do so. There was no victor. Trump returned to his quick-fire political rhetoric that he has shied away from since an immigration speech in Phoenix, Arizona.
Remember, during the primaries, Trump allowed himself to get baited in to bragging about the size of his penis on a debate stage.
‘And I was very surprised in nearly every instance, ‘ Trump said.
‘I think when he calls me brilliant I’ll take the compliment, okay?’ Trump said when pressed about Putin, whose regime is under USA and global sanctions over Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
But under repeated questions from host Matt Lauer, Trump stood by his earlier claims that he would “get along” with Putin and forge constructive relations with the nation that has become a top rival to USA interests in various trouble spots. Earlier, Clinton reiterated that she regretted her vote for the Iraq War, and hit Trump on falsely saying he has opposed the war from the onset – something he again incorrectly repeated when it was his turn during the forum.
“Do you want me to start naming some of the things that President Obama does at the same time?” he added provocatively.
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“I have a whole section devoted to veterans’ mental health”.
