Nearly 36 hours after denouncing President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as “founders” of ISIS at an election rally and repeating the description in several media interviews, Donald Trump sought to backtrack on Friday, claiming he was only being sarcastic.
While doing so, he resorted to a dose of media-bashing, specifically targeting CNN. “Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) “the founder” of ISIS, & MVP (Most Valued Player). THEY DON’T GET SARCASMIJ” the real estate mogul tweeted on Friday morning.
On Thursday, Trump had an escape route during an interview but he opted to double down on his accusation. When a conservative radio host wondered if his reference was to the vacuum created by President Obama’s abrupt withdrawal of forces from Iraq, Trump insisted: “No, I meant that he’s the founder of ISIS. I do.”
Trump’s belated claim of sarcasm has come amid mounting worries within his own Republican Party that his campaign goof-ups will cost the party not only the White House race, but the Congressional elections as well.
This fear prompted 75 former Republican staffers to sign a letter urging Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to “suspend” funding for Trump’s campaign and divert all resources to Congressional races.
“Given the catastrophic impact that Donald Trump’s losing presidential campaign will have on down-ballot Senate and House races, we urge you to immediately suspend all discretionary RNC support for Trump and focus the entirety of the RNC’s available resources on preserving the GOP’s congressional majorities,” says the letter, which is still in the process of being submitted to Priebus.
Trump, however, pooh-poohed the report, telling Fox News that it is not the party that is raising money for him, but it is he who has been raising money for the party candidates. In contrast to the goings-on within the Republican Party, the Democrats appeared to be thrilled over the Trump gaffes, confident that these will boomerang on the billionaire and Clinton’s task much easier in the run-up to the November election.
Clinton, meanwhile, released her own economic policy, touting is pro-middle class as against Trump’s “pro-rich” tax proposals. “Trump wants America to work for him and his friends. We need to build an economy that works for everyone,” Clinton said after unveiling her economic vision.