Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called U.S. President Barack Obama and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton "co-founders" of Islamic State on Thursday, igniting fresh criticism of his inflammatory campaign style.
The
New York real estate developer has previously attacked Obama and
Clinton, secretary of state from 2009-13, for how the United States
pulled out of Iraq after the war, saying it helped create the militant
Islamist group that has seized swaths of Iraq and Syria.
The
idea that a sitting U.S. president created a militant group determined
to kill Americans and other Westerners took that line of attack to a new
level. Trump first made the assertion in a speech Wednesday night in
Florida. He repeated it in an interview Thursday morning with CNBC.
His
remarks followed a troubled week for the Republican candidate. Party
leaders urged Trump to focus on the campaign to beat Clinton after he
drew strong criticism for a persistent confrontation with the family of
Muslim American soldier who died in Iraq and for his initial refusal to
support prominent Republican congressional candidates in their primary
races.
Recent opinion polls have shown Trump
losing ground to Clinton, a former U.S. senator and first lady, in the
race for the Nov. 8 election. An average of polls by RealClearPolitics
has Clinton 7.7 percentage points ahead, at 48 percent to his 40.3
percent.
"He (Obama) was the founder of ISIS. And so was she. I mean I call them co-founders," said Trump, who says he opposed the Iraq war. "He shouldn't have gotten out way he got out. It was a disaster, what he did," he told CNBC.
Obama
had opposed the Iraq war and campaigned for the White House in 2008 on a
promise to end it. The United States pulled out combat troops in 2011.
Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS or ISIL, had its roots in
the al Qaeda insurgency that arose after the United States led an
invasion of Iraq in 2003. Known for its brutality, the group in 2014
declared an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq, where fighting
continues to rage.
Clinton spokesman Jesse
Lehrich, in response to Trump's comments, pointed to U.S. advances
against the militant group in Libya this week. "FYI - U.S.-backed militias retook ISIS's stronghold in Libya today thanks to Obama-authorized air strikes," he said in a tweet late on Wednesday.
Trump
did not back down, asking on CNBC: "Is there something wrong with
saying that? Why - are people complaining that I said he was the founder
of ISIS? All I do is tell the truth, I'm a truth teller."
Supporters
of Trump, who has never held elected office, like his combative and
often insulting style but it has drawn wide criticism, not just from the
Clinton campaign. Many Republicans have urged him to change tactics and
focus on the economy.
U.S. Representative Sean
Duffy, a Republican from Wisconsin who backs Trump, said Obama and
Clinton did not found Islamic State and urged Trump to stay on message.
"Stay on script. Don't go off script. Read your teleprompter and you're going to be fine," Duffy said on MSNBC.
Trump bristles at the notion he should change. "I don't think I've made too many errors," he told CNBC. If his style costs him the election in 90 days, he goes back to a good life, he said.
"It's not what I'm looking to do - I think we're going to have a victory but we'll see," Trump added.
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