If you do, you’d better remind the mainstream media, who have entered Day #2 of broadcasting Donald Trump’s outrageous assertion that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are “co-founders of ISIS.” As J.E. Dyer noted yesterday, there is some truth to Trump’s pronouncement, though the word choice is lacking.
Now a new formulation has entered the picture — “recruiting sergeant for ISIS” — though it’s doubtful the MSM is going pounce on that phraseology as readily as they did “founder.” But that’s because the words are not Trump’s In fact, they were spoken about Trump … by Hillary Clinton!
As Breitbart’s Pam Key reported back in April, the accusation was leveled during an interview Clinton gave to Business Insider’s Henry Blodget. As luck would have it, there is a video of the exchange. (The transcript follows).
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
I think it was said just this week that the way Donald Trump talks about terrorism and his very insulting language towards Muslims is making him the recruiting sergeant for ISIS. So you do have to walk a fine line here. And what I have said is that I will take a backseat to no one in keeping America safe. I have a very clear set of proposals about how we defeat ISIS. And I think it’s important that we do it in concert with other nations in Europe, the Middle East, elsewhere if necessary. And that means you’ve got to work with people. You don’t insult them. You don’t insult their religion. And it means we have to see our entire country, all of the people in it, as part of our first line of defense. So that means you don’t insult American Muslims and religiously profile them the way that has been suggested by Ted Cruz. [Emphasis added]
It’s something of a bonus that Clinton added, “You do have to walk a fine line here.” She is affirming that Trump’s “Islamophobia” is so unsubtle that hyperbole is not out of place in a characterization of his role as an abettor of ISIS.
But the mainstream media has spent more than a day slamming Trump for his hyperbole on the same exact topic, except that there is some validity to his assertion while Clinton’s is just idle speculation. No one really knows what makes ISIS tick — and certainly no one in the administration that underestimated the terrorist group as the JV.
