Ratcheting up his campaign rhetoric to a new high, Donald Trump on Wednesday accused President Barack Obama of “founding” the dreaded Islamic State (ISIS) terror outfit and dubbed Hillary Clinton its “co-founder”.
“He is the founder of ISIS, OKIJ He’s the founder. He founded ISIS. And I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton,” Trump told a raucous election rally in Fort lauderdale, Florida.
The controversial Republican presidential nominee pointedly referred to Obama by his full legal name “Barack Hussein Obama” several times during his hour-long speech as he blamed his policies for the rise of ISIS and the “mess” in the Middle East.
“We should never have gotten out (from Iraq) the way we got out. We unleashed terrible fury all over the Middle East,” Trump said, charging Obama with creating a “bigger mess” in the region, adding, “We’re not respected. We’re laughed at all over the world.”
While it may be the first time that he has gone to extent of slapping the label of ISIS founder on President Obama, he had in June tweeted an article that said, “The Obama administration was actively supporting al-Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group that became the Islamic State.”
As for Clinton, he did call her the ISIS founder last week as well, going on to say that “she should get an award from them”.
Ever since he jumped into the presidential race a year ago, Trump has frequently attacked Obama for not using the term “radical Islamic terrorism” for the acts of terror perpetrated by ISIS in several countries.
In his speech, Trump also had a jab at Obama for the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014, saying it happened “during the administration of Barack Hussein Obama”.
Trump doubled down on his charges during an interview to CNBC on Thursday morning, insisting that President Obama was “the founder of ISIS absolutely, the way he removed the troops”.
At a time when most polls show Clinton way ahead of him, Trump said he will either win with his frank and uncensored style of campaigning or enjoy a “very, very nice long vacation”.
“I’m a truth teller. All I do is tell the truth. And if at the end of 90 days, I’ve fallen short because I’m somewhat politically correct even though I’m supposed to be the smart one and even though I’m supposed to have a lot of good ideas, it’s OK. I go back to a very good way of life,” he commented.
At this otherwise massive rally of boisterous supporters in Fort lauderdale, Trump had his own awkward movement. It happened as he brought up the recent Orlando massacre and pointed out how “the father of the animal that killed the wonderful people in Orlando was sitting with a big smile on his face right behind Hillary Clinton” at her Florida rally the previous day.
little did Trump realise that seated in close quarters behind the podium at his own rally was disgraced Republican Congressman Mark Foley, who had to resign his seat in 2006 after allegations that he sent sexually expletive messages to male congressional pages, including some under the age of 18.
The 61-year-old Foley, when asked by MSNBC later if he planned to vote for Trump, said: “Yes, he’s been a friend of mine for 30 years and [was] one of my biggest contributors.”