Last week, Donald Trump absurdly called President Obama the “founder of ISIS.” There was initial backlash, but that didn’t stop Trump from doubling-down almost immediately. The next day, Trump decided he was just being sarcastic (“DONT THEY GET SARCASM?“). But Mike Pence contemporaneously insisted that Trump wasn’t joking around, arguing, “I think he was being very serious.”
Guess who else is serious about the “Obama was the founder of ISIS” thing: the leader of Hezbollah, who commented, “This is not simple speech. This is an American presidential candidate. This was spoken on behalf of the American Republican Party. He has data and documents.”
Over the weekend, we learned that Trump and former KKK leader are sharing messaging, and Trump’s previously echoed Kremlin talking points on Crimea.
Is anyone else concerned that Trump is irresponsibly accusing the president of leading a terrorist organization — and that the actual leader of a foreign militant group enthusiastically agrees with him?
Published: Aug 15, 2016