Clinton, Trump rhetoric underscores divergent views on fighting terrorism.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of giving “aid and comfort” to Islamic terrorists Monday, declaring after a weekend of violent attacks in three states that his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps groups like the Islamic State recruit new fighters. Trump showed no sign of changing, casting “many” foreigners coming to the U.S. as a “cancer within.”
The Democratic presidential candidate touted her national security credentials at a news conference outside her campaign plane, saying she was the most qualified to combat terrorism and accusing Republican Trump of using the incidents to make “some kind of demagogic point.”
“I’m the only candidate in this race who’s been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield,” said Clinton, a former secretary of state. “I have sat at that table in the Situation Room.”
The possibility of a homegrown terrorist plot cast a long shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates’ attention from the daily controversies of the presidential race and giving them an opportunity to make their case to undecided voters.
Clinton and her team see her experience and what they say is her steady judgment as key selling points for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Obama.
“We’re going after the bad guys and we’re going to get them, but we’re not going to go after an entire religion,” Clinton said.
But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Clinton, Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close U.S. borders and pledges to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fueled his presidential bid.
On Monday, he hit hard on those points, calling for tougher policing, including profiling foreigners who look like they could have connections to terrorism or certain Mideastern nations.
“Knock the hell out of ’em,” Trump said on “Fox and Friends” in a telephone interview.
“We don’t want to do any profiling,” he said of current U.S. policy. “If somebody looks like he has a massive bomb on his back, we won’t go up to that person and say I’m sorry because if he looks like he comes from that part of the world we’re not allowed to profile . ... Give me a break.”
Pointing to her “aid and comfort” remark and others, Trump’s campaign said Clinton was accusing him of treason, going beyond the bounds of acceptable campaigning and trying to change the subject from her own failures. Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon responded: “The Trump campaign can call it whatever they want. Hillary Clinton will continue to call it out.”