Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is accusing Donald Trump of treasonous behavior, because he’s specified that radial Islam is responsible for the surge of terrorist acts around the world.
“The language that Mr. Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries,” Clinton said, citing an article by former head of the counter terrorist center Mike Olsen citing Trump’s tough rhetoric as fueling Islamic state recruitment. She described Trump as a “recruiting sergeant” for ISIS.
Clinton made her remarks on the airport tarmac prior to leaving for an event directed at millennials in Philadelphia, speaking out about the terrorist attacks in New York City before President Barack Obama addressed the nation.
She criticized Trump for “irresponsible reckless rhetoric,” because he repeatedly refers to radical Islam as responsible for the attacks.
“They are looking to make this into a war against Islam … they want to use that to recruit more fighters to their cause by turning this into a religious conflict,” Clinton said, referring to ISIS.
She repeated that in her administration, she would only go after terrorists, not the Muslim religion.
“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, and give ISIS exactly what its wanting in order for them to enhance their position,” she said.
She cited her experience in the Obama administration as proof that she was the candidate best suited to fight terrorism.
“I have sat at that table in the situation, I’ve analyzed the threats, I have contributed to actions that have neutralized our enemies,” she said.
Trump responded to the attacks by calling for American to “change the playbook” to fight radical Islamic terrorism, something that Clinton described as “demagogic.”
“Well, it’s like so much else he says, it’s not grounded in fact. it’s meant to make some kind of demagogic point,” she said.
Clinton admitted that the United States still had “challenges” in the fight against terrorists, calling for a government sponsored “intelligence surge” to fight terrorism, stronger visa scrutiny and for Silicon Valley tech companies to combat ISIS online.