For the Record: Trump calls Obama the literal ‘founder’ of ISIS
Hillary Clinton unfurled her economic plan Thursday, aiming squarely at trade deals she said killed American jobs and stifled wages. Her goal: Gain ground with jobs-minded voters who prefer Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate mogul and star of the 1989 ghost sex comedy Ghosts Can’t Do It. (Seriously, read the movie’s synopsis.)
Trump’s campaign slammed Clinton’s “failed economic agenda,” but all many will remember from Thursday was Trump doubling down that he believes Barack Obama founded ISIS—literally.
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Trump: I literally, non-metaphorically, think Obama founded ISIS
Obama was “the founder, absolutely” of ISIS, Trump said Thursday on CNBC. That same day, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt—a Trump supporter—tried to give the candidate a chance to clarify.
Hewitt suggested that Trump meant Obama founded ISIS metaphorically, that his policies aided the group’s rise in the Middle East as others have argued.
No, Trump said. Here’s the official transcript:
Hewitt: “I know what you meant. You meant that he created the vacuum, he lost the peace.”
Trump: “No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton.”
Hewitt: “But he’s not sympathetic to them. He hates them. He’s trying to kill them.”
Trump: “I don’t care. He was the founder. His, the way he got out of Iraq was that that was the founding of ISIS, okay?”
The assertion is patently false, as the Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact swiftly detailed: The cleric Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is considered the founder of ISIS, and the group’s beginnings pre-date the Obama presidency.
‘I have a right to be that idiot’: Meet Michigan Trump supporters
More than a dozen Donald Trump supporters protested outside of Clinton’s economic speech Thursday in Michigan, and The Detroit Free Press spoke with them.
"I'm on the Trump train, choo-choo,” said a gentleman identified as Jason Berry of Downriver, who brought a Confederate battle flag to the event with him.
"I might be an idiot for flying that flag, but I have a right to be that idiot,” Berry told the Free Press. (Michigan, for the record, was a Union state.)
Another protester, Pat Thomas of Waterford, said he is “absolutely horrified at the thought of Hillary being president.”
“I think Trump is in it to help us. I think he'll create jobs again,” Thomas said. “That is not what she's here for. She's just a self-centered old hag.”
This is political discourse in 2016.
Clinton’s economic plan: Trump’s such a downer, man
Yes, Clinton did detail a plan calling for paid family leave, a higher minimum wage, free college education and more (read the Free Press’excellent roundup). But the spirit of her plan was this: Trump thinks America is going to hell in a handbasket, and Clinton thinks we’re on the up and up.
“We’re all in this together,” Clinton said. “If we can grow together, we can rise together …”
In other words, everything is awesome, Clinton said, and everything is cool when you’re part of a team.
Clinton swung hard at the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP, America’s big trade deal with Pacific Rim nations. The TPP is Barack Obama’s baby, so he loves it. But the Democratic base hates it.
So, in what happens to be an election year, Clinton (who even worked on the deal as secretary of state) is against it:
“I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages including the Trans Pacific Partnership. I oppose it now, I’ll oppose it after the election and I’ll oppose it as president."
Democrats are shaking in their boots over another possible email dump
Another dump of embarrassing emails could fall on Democrats’ heads at any time after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hinted that he has more emails he might release on Clinton’s campaign. WikiLeaks dropped a trove of hacked emails on the eve of Democrats’ convention last month, resulting in the resignation of the party’s chair.
A Thursday New York Times story suggested the hacking of Democrats’ inboxes may have been broader than they realized. That day, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blamed Russian hackers for the attack, calling it "an electronic Watergate."
More from the campaign trail:
Trump’s economic advisers last week: all men. This week: some women! (USA TODAY)
Reagan’s daughter: Trump’s 2nd Amendment comment was “horrifying” (USA TODAY)
Team USA coach: “We live in that Trumpian era where it’s OK to be sexist.” (USA TODAY)
Controversial GOP congressman: Clinton ‘is somebody I can work with’ (USA TODAY)
Here is Donald Trump in the 1989 ghost sex comedy 'Ghost's Can't Do It'
It has a 14% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Enjoy.