Politics –
Radical Islam Semantics Anger Obama
Barack Obama has a longstanding reputation of being “cool, calm and collected.” However, a speech on Monday by presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump not only set off the Commander-In-Chief, but prompted him to open a verbal can of whoop-ass on “The Donald.”
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Bad blood between President Obama and Donald Trump goes back to the Republican candidate’s days of questioning Mr. Obama’s validity to be president. Trump was an active member of the birther movement, which promoted false claims that the president is a secret Muslim who wasn’t born in America.
Although Trump eventually backed away from such vitriol once Mr. Obama presented his official birth certificate, he now seems to have returned to the rhetoric. Following the deadly shooting in Orlando over the weekend, Trump is now pushing the notion that the president and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton both have an issue with connecting Muslims with terrorism and in using the term “Radical Islam.”
“President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words ‘Radical Islam’. For that reason alone, he should step down,” Trump said during a speech on Monday. “If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words ‘Radical Islam’ she should get out of this race for the Presidency.”
Trump then revived his earlier plans to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S. if he’s elected president. He also implied that Mr. Obama may actually be a terrorist sympathizer of the Radical Islam mentality.
“We’re led by a man who is a very – look, we’re led by a man that either is, is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind,” Trump said. “And the something else in mind, you know, people can’t believe it. People cannot – they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the ways he acts and can’t even mention the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ There’s something going on. It’s inconceivable.”
“He doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands. It’s one or the other,” Trump continued during a “Fox & Friends,” telephone interview. “And either one is unacceptable.”
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Interestingly, Trump’s rhetoric did not sit well with his fellow Republicans. Some publicly denounced his words and several GOP leaders simply shook their heads and refused to answer questions on Trump’s positions. However, it was the Democrats who brought the fire.
First up was Hillary Clinton, who said in her speech: “Yesterday morning, just one day after the massacre, he [Trump] went on TV and suggested that President Obama is on the side of the terrorists. Now just think about that for a second. Even in a time of divided politics, this is way beyond anything that should be said by someone running for president of the United States.”
She continued: “He’s not just unprepared — he’s temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability and immense responsibility.”
Then on Tuesday, flanked by his national security team and a 4-star General, President Obama lit into Donald Trump in a 20 minute beat down that was both impassioned and methodical.
“There’s no magic to the phrase ‘radical Islam.’ It’s a political talking point,” the president said. “What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change?…Is there a military strategy that is served by this?”
The answer is “none of the above,” Mr. Obama said. ”Calling a threat by a different name is not going to make it go away,” he added, saying that mentality actually plays into the hands of extremists.
“Are we going to start treating all Muslim-Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? Are we going to start discriminating against them because of their faith? We’ve heard these suggestions during the course of this campaign,” Mr. Obama said angrily. “Do Republican officials actually agree with this? Because that’s not the America we want. It doesn’t reflect our Democratic ideals. It will make us less safe.”
Ouch!
Watch important portions of President Obama’s remarks below:
Was hoping you'd post about this..this morning. Thanks DJ. First let me say….even when moved to anger (which Pres. Obama clearly feels towards Trump – and understandably so) the President still manages to conduct himself in a manner that exemplifies the kind of man (and leader) he is; one of impeccable character. So just a few days ago I expressed that..IMO…Trump is not only temperamentally Unfit for the presidency but he is also psychologically and intellectually Unfit. I said that he would spend the next 5 months (until election day in Nov.) proving it over and over and over again. Suffice it to say, I stand by my comments. Re: Repub leaders who are running for the hills, in a panic about Trump They had better get used to this kind of madness because Trump IS their nominee. And as I see it, Repub voters could not have picked a… Read more »