Clinton blasts Trump’s comments on military generals, Putin
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke to members of the media before boarding her campaign plane at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., today, to travel to Charlotte, N.C., to attend a campaign rally.
WHITE PLAINS, New York » Hillary Clinton blasted Donald Trump today for his condemnation of American military generals and his praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying her Republican opponent had “failed” at proving he can be commander in chief.
“Every Republican holding or seeking office in this country should be asked if they agree with Donald Trump about these statements,” Clinton said in a morning news conference.
Clinton’s remarks followed a Wednesday night national security forum where the presidential candidates made back-to-back appearances.
The Democrat was repeatedly challenged on her controversial email use at the State Department and her vote as a senator for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She also flushed out several national security priorities if she is elected, including trying to take out the leader of the Islamic State and vowing to defeat the extremist group without putting U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq or Syria.
Trump did little to counter the criticism that he lacks detailed policy proposals, particularly regarding the Islamic State group. He both insisted he has a private blueprint for defeating the extremist group and that he would demand a plan from military leaders within 30 days of taking office.
But he was also harshly critical of the military, saying America’s generals have been “reduced to rubble” under Obama. Asked to square his request for military options with that criticism, Trump said simply: “They’ll probably be different generals.”
The Republican also renewed his praise for Putin and his disdain for President Barack Obama, saying that the Russian enjoyed an 82 percent approval rating. “The man has very strong control over a country,” Trump said. “It’s a very different system and I don’t happen to like the system, but certainly, in that system, he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader.”
Speaking to reporters this morning, Clinton suggested she agreed with Democrats who say she is being held to a different standard in the White House race.
“I don’t understand the reasons for it,” she said. “I find it frustrating, but it’s part of the landscape we live in.”
With just two months until Election Day, national security has emerged as a centerpiece issue in the White House race. Both candidates believe they have the upper hand, with Clinton contrasting her experience with Trump’s unpredictability and the Republican arguing that Americans worried about their safety will be left with more of the same if they elect Obama’s former secretary of state.
Clinton’s argument that Trump is ill-prepared to be commander in chief has been bolstered by a flood of Republican national security experts who have chosen to back the Democratic nominee instead of their own party’s pick.
Some of those Republicans will join Clinton Friday for what she dubbed at “working session” on the threat of terrorism. Those attending the event include Michael Chertoff, who served as Homeland Security secretary under President George W. Bush.
Wednesday’s forum served as a preview of sorts for Clinton and Trump’s highly-anticipated presidential debates. The candidates will face off for the first time on Sept. 26 at Hofstra University.
By virtue of a coin flip, Clinton took the stage first and quickly found herself responding at length to questions about her years in government. She reiterated that she had made mistakes in relying on a personal email account and private server as secretary of state and in voting for the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a senator. But she defended her support for U.S. military intervention to help oust a dictator in Libya, despite the chaotic aftermath.
“I’m asking to be judged on the totality of my record,” said Clinton, who grew visibly irritated at times with the repeated focus on her past actions.
Trump stood by a previous comment that appeared to blame military sexual assaults on men and women serving together, but added he would not seek to remove women from the military. And for the first time, he opened the door to granting legal status to people living in the U.S. illegally who join the military.
“I think that when you serve in the armed forces, that’s a very special situation,” Trump said. “And I could see myself working that out.”
The Republican also repeated an incorrect claim that he was opposed to the war with Iraq before the invasion. That assertion is contradicted by an interview Trump did with Howard Stern in September 2002 in which he was asked whether he supported the invasion. He replied, “Yeah, I guess so.”
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Steve Peoples contributed to this report.
138 responses to “Clinton blasts Trump’s comments on military generals, Putin”
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If it is true that Clinton is being held to a higher standard, it is because she is a pathological liar who wouldn’t know the truth if it hit her in the head!
LOL. What you say is true about Clinton’s character.Both she and her husband are pathological liars. Trump could have cruised to the win in this election but every time he opens his mouth, he just shows how dumb he is. Claims to have a 156 IQ, but there is no way. I’ll personally pay for his IQ Test.
I am sure he would agree to one just as soon as he releases his taxes. (Never)
Once again last night Donald Trump wowed his followers and looked like a fool before the world. He once again proved to be the pathological liar of all time.
Yeah Trump is the pathological liar…just keep telling yourself that.
bumbai, Well, What do you call a 70 yr old man who stiffs a group of young girls who agreed to sing at one of his rallies? This is the character of the person you will be voting for president. Pathological liar probably would be a compliment to him.
hiLIARy’s HEALTH record needs to be shown.
OldDiver…hiLIARy took 6 questions in her first presser…if you want to call it that…none on her scandals…none on her policies…but on The Donald. hiLIARy told the MSM what questions to ask?
He makes GWB look like a Rhodes Scholar!
hiLIARy makes MEDUSSA look like an Angel.
Agree with both of you but you have to give her a break she been lying so much in her career that she doesn’t know truth already. These emails and the worry of more has dug her a grave that soon she will not get out of. She sees her election hopes fading as in 2008 now her campaign is in panic and is playing the women Trump card but even with Matt Laurer pre coaching and her earbud nothing can help her now.
Did you even read the article? Trump stated that he did not support the War in Iraq. But in a 2002 interview he said he guessed so. If you are going to call Clinton a liar, then you need to also add Trump to the mix. Further, Trump’s solutions and lack of real plans show that he is not capable to lead our country. His tabloid style leadership would lead to a chaotic style of governing from the top. His answers to solving our military to replace all the generals shows a lack knowledge of our military and shows a knee-jerk reactive type of person that will lead our country to a great deal of problems in which the solutions may prove to be the cause of more problems than the original. Clinton’s use of her private server will pale in comparison to the chaos that is created to a tyrannical leader whose knee-jerk reactions will lead to unnecessary wars and will turn our White House into a tabloid circus.
Listen to Trump’s response to Howard Stern, not the talking points. If the “I guess so” is a resounding affirmation that he supported the war then you may need some help. I hope that there is actual evidence of Trump being labeled a liar and not just some anecdotal flimsy, “I guess that’s what we’re doing”. For Clinton, all of her lies have actual documented strong evidence. The fact is, Clinton has evidence that she is corrupt, lying, manipulative, and did not protect our military or unborn children. The fact is Trump is a radical unknown that causes fear and uncertainty. So vote for an unknown with radical speech or someone who knowingly is corrupt and detrimental to our country? I’ll go with the unknown, as scary as that may be.
“I guess so” doesn’t sound like a firm commitment, unlike a vote in Congress.
The Clintons are such as stated and worse.
She has had this press conference on the tarmac where the public is not allowed. Controlled crowd of selected reporters and television media. What a shame. She is for the average American she says, so why she has these elaborate fund raising events that cost the donors over $100,000 to attend. Public appearance since the convention slim and none.
It is reported she charges a bunch for people to have pictures taken with her. Yet it is believed that the Clinton foundation is worth over $1 Billion dollars mostly generated by foreign donors and countries. How come? Investigations has stated very little money has been used for the charitable giving.
Those who are going to vote for her because she is a women, need to do research on her. Keep an open mind and vote for the other guy.
The pathological liar is the Donald who claims he is capable of being the president of the United States. He would be an absolute disaster. Just ask the person in Mexico who resigned his post after the Donald’s visit.
No thanks, there’s already enough Mexicans voting this year.
And you are against Americans of Mexican ancestry voting?
No, I’m all for Mexican citizens voting…in Mexico. Americans of Mexican ancestry are Americans.
bumbai!! LOL good one! ^5
Bingo, Hillary lies so much and doubles or triple downs on her lies that she convinced herself her words are not lies! It’s amazing how people would vote for a habitual liar. Liars are on the Top of my list that I don’t deal with personally. The only Liars I tolerate are family members as it’s hard not to forgive blood relatives.
She must be a student of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister who professed, “tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”.
When it comes to lies, no one can compare to republicans. From WMDs, to the Donald stiffing the freedom girls, there is nothing honest about republicans.
you not laughing…you see the cliff coming?
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?_r=0
From 2004 to 2011, American and American-trained Iraqi troops repeatedly encountered, and on at least six occasions were wounded by, chemical weapons (weapons of mass destruction) remaining from years earlier in Saddam Hussein’s rule.
you are not even a good liar, honestly.
You are funny st. Why didn’t you include the most important statement in your article?
the remnants of long-abandoned programs, built in close collaboration with the West.
Perhaps you should ask who the allies were in the west? Are you curious? lol Give you a hint. He was a VP of the US. lol
“Jarrod L. Taylor, a former Army sergeant on hand for the destruction of mustard shells that burned two soldiers in his infantry company, joked of “wounds that never happened” from “that stuff that didn’t exist.” The public, he said, was misled for a decade. “I love it when I hear, ‘Oh there weren’t any chemical weapons in Iraq,’ ” he said. “There were plenty.” ”
this is just one of the most important statement of the article.
The point is St, was that those chemical weapons were long obsolete and were largely worthless and were probably provided by Cheney.
again: ” “I love it when I hear, ‘Oh there weren’t any chemical weapons in Iraq,’ ” he said. “There were plenty.” ”
the point is there were chemical weapons in iraq.
Again st, weapons we put there.
at last you admit you were wrong. weapons of mass destruction were present in iraq.
NYPD confirmed hiLIARy was wearing an inductive EARBUD…who was she listening to?
She was listening to her possible presidency fade away as Donald repairs the glass ceiling that Hillary was trying to break. Sorry one day we will have a women President but it just won’t be Hillary Clinton who should be wearing the Orange one day.
Why do you read articles about Hillary, when clearly you cannot stand her. Obsessed with your own hate.
I come for the laughs from posts from the libs.
She sure can recall a lot of stuff about trump but when it comes to national security, she can’t recall being informed of the different clasiffication of information being disseminated. She once was a first lady, a senator and then secretary of state and she can’t recall being educated about the classification. In the military from E1-Private to the Generals and Admirals are trained annually on information classification. People working in highly sensitive areas of the federal government are in-serviced of the classification. For those who are undecided who to vote for, google and read the platforms of the Libertarian and the Green Party, one of those may fit your political point of view. One is a big talker egotistical and one is liar and can’t recall much, the alternatives are looking much more palatable.
The Donald is a joke. He is dishonest as shown with his Trump University and his bribery of an attorney General. Only thing people complain about Hillary is that she did not follow some bureaucratic rules. BFD.
Boots, just because you signed up but couldn’t muster don’t blame Trump. I got some good swamp land for you in Kawainui. You never fail to amaze.
hahaha, it’s all Bush’s Fault!
Sorry, I would never sign up for such a scam. Remember Ron Rewald? I didn’t sign up for him either but many “conservatives” did. lol
Simple question, bootie, would you prefer dealing with a very sophisticated liar or a totally inept one? Simple response requested, not another WMD, 7k stock market, Nixoncare, deficit, “lol” dissertation…
Big Gaffe by Johnson yesterday. A specific example on the great complexity of the office and how you need to have a utilitarian knowledge of a wide scope of subjects…..
Information, you have it or you don’t. Either way, it can be obtained. Integrity, you have it or you don’t. And, like a reputation, it’s far easier to lose than regain.
No Boots, the main complaint about Hillary is that she is the most openly corrupt politician to ever run for the U.S. Presidency.
There is that word Most again. lol Hillary is hardly the most corrupt politician to ever run for the US presidency. She does not come close to GW, Reagan, Tricky Dick, Harding, need I go on? You would do far better if you specifically list why you think she is corrupt.
Pretty sad when a person’s name requires moderation. A president’s name at that. Sad.
Trump knows about fighting wars because he personally avoided being drafted to serve in one. Nuff said.
Mr. Trump showed again (as if more proof is needed) that he knows absolutely nothing about national security and defense strategy. He has remained willfully and pridefully ignorant of the most basic facts regarding the interaction between the President and the military.
Even by his terribly low standard, last night was a disaster for Mr. Trump.
I disagree. I had almost expected him to say something really stupid but on the whole he really didn’t say anything. Just bla bla bla…..
Either him who’s new to the game that has trusted advisors or a Pathological Liar who lies thru her teeth. How could you put your trust in a person that served for the People who lied to her People? Nutz! We may have bad candidates for POTUS but it’s the people who voted for them in the primaries. I’d say the GOP incumbants done themselves in not doing what it’s voters who voted them wanted done. The GOP voters had a reason to vote for Trump. Whereas the Democrats ended up with Hillary because of the party’s rigged system! All you Donkey’s been had, lol
Come on, what election isn’t rigged to some extent? If you have problem with our elected officials, just consider who runs. You think a sane person would run?
klastri (aka Kurt on Kauai…aka kauai) the Don beat the pantsuit off of hiLIARy…wasn’t a pretty sight I might add.
hey I didn’t you on the failing OBAMACARE article on Sept 6..you said that that was O’s SIGNATURE LEGACY…what happened?
Good Morning, Mrs. Klastri. Exactly what did your idol, Obama, know about national security, defense strategy and the interaction between the President and the military when he first ran for president? As brilliant as you are, you must know it was a big ZERO. You apparently had no problem with that, so why is it now a big negative for Trump?
Oh, yes, Klastri, your other idol, Hillary, showed her brilliancy in national security and military strategy by announcing to the enemy her strategy for fighting them in a Clinton administration. She told ISIS and other potential enemies in the Middle-East that there would be absolutely no American boots on the ground in our fight to defeat them. How dumb can one be? Trump, on the other hand, has said repeatedly that all options for fighting ISIS and Islamic terrorists are on the table. That is how it should be.
Ronin, sorry to bother you, would you mind telling us which generals trump wants to have replaced, and what actions are the reasons for those dismissals?
Just listen to Gen Flynn.
The one guy you have to blame is The Commander in Chief Obama and the bad judgement of his two Secretarties of State. They can’t run on their abysmal record. Trump on his worst day would be ten times better than Obama on his best day. Obama is Clueless.
Where was he on 9/11-12/12? He left it up to his Staff. We know how well that turned out.
HRC wants your cash, not cheap comments.
Wassup SA?
Trump never served in the US military but is mouthing off about replacing our military leadership? We in Hawaii have had so many family members and friends that served, fought and died for the US. And now we have to listen to this loud mouth? He insults our US Military forces!
When did hiLIARy serve?
Serving on the armed services committee and the Secretary of State is far more analogous and useful than shelping ugly ties made from in China……
Military Service is quite different from being on a “committee”.
Being SoS…have you seen her/heard/read of the results because of her? That alone disqualifies her from office and we haven’t gone into her “Foundation” and Emails.
Have you seen/read/heard of the inductive EARBUDS she wore at the forum as confirmed by the NYPD?
“I guess so” doesn’t sound like a firm commitment, unlike a vote in Congress.
Readt2go, of course Trump will replace the top military brass. All of them were appointed to their positions by Obama and have been supporting his failed military and foreign policies and social experiments not because they agree with them but in order to keep their four-star positions. Trump needs to replace them with admirals and generals who have the courage of their convictions, who will speak their minds, and who will rebuild a decimated and demoralized U.S. military force.
One thing for sure, he won’t put a gay as Secretary of any of the services!!! Trump said Putin was a stronger leader than Obama–why is that so wrong–that one we can all judge and agree .
Sorry, I don’t know the answer, would you mind telling us which generals, and which of their actions, or inactions you are describing as being a failure.
Advertiser1, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I was away from home most of the day. The military brass to which I refer are the four-star admirals and generals appointed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff who function as military advisors to the President, Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council (NSC). The failed military and foreign policies to which I referred were those of the Obama administration which the Joint Chiefs either supported or to which they acquiesced. Most notable were the retreat from Iraq, regime change in Libya, sitting by idly as our strongest Arab ally Mubarak’s was overthrown in Egypt by radical Islamists, failure to respond to the attack on our consulate in Benghazi, failure to respond when Assad crossed Obama’s red line, refusal to provide arms to Ukraine to help defend against Russian aggression and the slashing and cutting of our armed forces while the world is becoming increasingly more dangerous. The military social experiments included allowing transgenders to serve in our armed forces, forcing all military services to open all positions to women, promoting a female nurse to three-star rank and appointing her Surgeon General of the Army, promoting a female non-aviator to four-star rank and appointing her to head an air combat command, and appointing a four-star female Naval officer with limited fleet experience to command all U.S. Naval forces in Europe and Africa. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is appointed for two years. Other members of the Joint Chiefs are appointed for four years. However, all serve at the pleasure of the President. Thus, President Trump would probably replace those he considers Obama loyalists with four-star admirals and generals who support his military and national security philosophies and policies.
When did the conservative lovefest for communist russia begin? RNC now means Russian National Committee?
similiar to CNN..ClintonNewsNetwork
you really nailed it. Perfect defense of trumps pro-russian stance. I remember a time when the communists were our enemy.
“Pro Russian” stance? All I heard was “wouldn’t it be wonderful if the US and Russia, and other nations, could work together to eliminate ISIS? What forum were you watching?
Keoni, that’s right, hear only what you want to hear. Unfortunately, you believe only what you want to believe as well. I’m not saying Hillary is great, but in this case, she is the lesser of two evils.
advertiser1…that’s right say what you want to say.
Unfortunately, you believe only what you want to believe as well. I’m not saying Trump is great, but in this case, he is the lesser of two evils.
Also hiLIARy has American blood on her hands..remember BENGHAZI…oh she did say there was NO AMERICANS DIED there…say what you want to say.
Ad, I asked bootie to choose between a talented liar and an obvious one, as yet with no response. Which of the two would present the most threat? Be responsible for more evil? Forced to select the “lesser”, which one would it be?
Guys, once you reach a certain level every political leader has blood on their hands, as well as skeletons in their closets. But, and not to reference a Hillary ad, but do you really think the President should be swearing, and firing off the cuff remarks in public? Don’t you think that Hillary is far more well informed than Trump? They’ll both lie, as has every president before them…
Any Johnson skeletons you’d like to share? Any blood? Admittedly naive in some respects, but refreshingly so. The initial query lingers though, the smoothie or the stumbler?
Donald attended the New York Military Academy, where he thrived despite a regrettable attempt to throw a smaller student out a second-floor window (this comes from one of the best of the biographies, the brand-new “Trump Revealed,” by a team from The Washington Post).
Enough of Trump’s youth; now let’s hurtle through his business career. After graduating from Wharton, Trump joined his dad’s real estate business and, er, worked his way up: At about the age of 25, he was named president of Trump Management.
Unfortunately, the Trumps seemed to have a policy in some properties of not renting to blacks. “I’m not allowed to rent” to black families, a Trump building superintendent reportedly explained at the time, adding that he was just doing “what my boss told me to do.”
If a black person did make it as far as filling out an application, it was coded — in some cases, “C” for “colored” — to make sure it was not accidentally approved. The Nixon administration sued the Trumps in 1973 for breaking anti-discrimination laws.
Something similar happened with Donald Trump’s pageants. He began with the American Dream Calendar Girl Model Search, but that led to a lawsuit from a woman who said that Trump had groped her and restrained her in his daughter’s bedroom. The lawsuit also alleged that Trump had directed that “any black female contestants be excluded” from his parties. Trump denied the claims.
Back in the world of real estate, Trump had moved into Manhattan. In 1980, preparing to build Trump Tower, he demolished a department store using hundreds of undocumented Polish workers who were paid less than $5 an hour, sometimes in vodka. Some weren’t paid at all and were threatened with deportation if they complained.
In subsequent litigation, Trump blamed the subcontractor. The judge said that Trump’s aide was on site and that Trump himself should have known.
Ultimately, Trump Tower was a financial success, but the same was not true of Trump’s venture into casinos. Anyone who had invested in his only public company, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, when it listed in 1995 would have lost about 90 cents on the dollar by 2005.
Trump as a candidate has, of course, refused to release his tax returns. But many years ago he was obliged to release them for casino regulatory filings — and at that time he paid no federal income tax at all. Because of tax loopholes, he managed to report zero income (actually losses!) for both 1978 and 1979.
Do I risk losing you with finances? Time to throw in some sex, with a look now at Trump’s family life.
Melania Trump says that her husband “is intensely loyal … he will never let you down.” Then again, she’s his third wife.
His first was Ivana Trump, and he then began a dalliance with Marla Maples, culminating in a dramatic made-for-the-tabloids confrontation between the two women while they were all skiing in Aspen. The resulting divorce negotiations were bitter, with Ivana alleging in a deposition that Trump had raped her; she later backed off that.
Trump then married Maples. She in turn gave way to Melania, who may well have arrived in the States illegally (Melania Trump denies this but hasn’t furnished a convincing explanation for her immigration).
So what does all this add up to?
Whether in his youth, in his business career or in his personal life, Trump’s story is that of a shallow egoist who uses those around him.
Even as a child, he personified privilege and entitlement. In business, he proved a genius at marketing himself but grew his fortune more slowly than if he had put his wealth in a stock index fund. He made a mess of his personal life and has been repeatedly accused of racism, of cheating people, of lying, of stiffing charities.
His life is a vacuum of principle, and he never seems to have stood up for anything larger than himself.
Over seven decades, there’s one continuous theme to his life story: This is a narcissist who has no core. The lights are on, but no one’s home.
A vacuum of principles and intellectual curiosity……..
Exactly…
Hahahaha ahhh hahahaha hahaha You gals are too funny!
Pretty pathetic when he stiffed the Freedom girls. lol
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/06/usa-freedom-girls-sue-trump-campaign-for-stiffing-them.html
What kind of person would do such a thing? Certainly not one I would want as president.
Ike, you seem to have a habit of copying material from other sources without clearly referencing them.
Your diatribe that appears above was copied word for word from a NYT Sept 8 opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof.
Nothing personal, but I imagine if we carefully cherry-picked the mistakes from your life, perhaps adding a bit of distortion for emphasis, it might not look that great either.
As for Kristof, he was apparently once a serious journalist, but in remarking on himself after becoming the author of a Time’s column he is quoted as saying “Gradually, it’s become a lot more natural to hurl out opinions” (Slate, June 18, 2014)
I never pretend to be the authors of the pieces, and have submitted with quotes…and btw, if you copy something, it certainly goes without saying that it would be word for word–hence the term copying.
I looked again, and I cannot see any quotes surrounding the copied material.
Even if there were, I think that without a reference you are open to a charge of plagiarism.
And you a charge of being pithy….
Ike and HiLIARy ar losing it. Trump Train is rolling. Matt did a great job on HiLIARy and the cry babies just can’t handle it. Trump 2016
i think the majority of people are fed up with all politicians… they don’t listen to us, they don’t care about us, they make promises to get elected and then never deliver. There are calls to clean house and vote them all out of office. Then along comes Trump. He is not a politician, he doesn’t try to act like a politician, he is saying things that a lot of people are saying about how our government is being run and changes that should be made. And it is scaring the pants off of the establishment. No wonder they hate him and viciously attack him. Trump has hit a nerve with both the entrenched establishment and with the voters who are fed up. I saw a bumper sticker reading… “I’m Not Voting Republican – I’m Voting Trump.” LOL.
Republicans, the party of the cannot…
But Donald Trump is not a person of honor.
Presidents lie. Politicians lie. People lie. But Trump lies with a ferocious abandon.
For instance, the fact-checking website PolitiFact found that of the statements by Hillary Clinton that it checked, 22 percent were completely “true” and another 28 percent were “mostly true.”
But Trump is another animal. There is no true equivalency between Trump and Clinton, or between Trump and any other politician, for that matter. Only 4 percent of Trump’s statements that PolitiFact checked were rated as completely “true” and only another 11 percent were even rated as “mostly true.” Seventy percent of Trump’s statements that the site checked were rated as “mostly false,” “false” or “pants on fire,” the site’s worse rating.
The truth shifts beneath Trump like sand. He has no regard for the firmness of fact. For him, fact is as pliant as that Play-Doh he handed out to flood victims in Louisiana.
Indeed, PoltiFact named Trump’s collective “campaign misstatements” the 2015 Lie of the Year, writing:
“It’s the trope on Trump: He’s authentic, a straight-talker, less scripted than traditional politicians. That’s because Donald Trump doesn’t let facts slow him down. Bending the truth or being unhampered by accuracy is a strategy he has followed for years.”
The site quotes from Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal,” in which he says, “People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion.”
In fact, Tony Schwartz was the ghostwriter for that book and in July he blasted Trump in an interview in The New Yorker:
“Schwartz says of Trump, ‘He lied strategically. He had a complete lack of conscience about it.’ Since most people are ‘constrained by the truth,’ Trump’s indifference to it ‘gave him a strange advantage.’”
When introducing a series about “the scale and depth of Donald Trump’s lies,” the magazine’s editor, David Remnick, put it this way:
“Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for President, does not so much struggle with the truth as strangle it altogether. He lies to avoid. He lies to inflame. He lies to promote and to preen. Sometimes he seems to lie just for the hell of it. He traffics in conspiracy theories that he cannot possibly believe and in grotesque promises that he cannot possibly fulfill. When found out, he changes the subject — or lies larger.”
And yet in polls like the CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday, Trump leads Clinton on the issue of being honest and trustworthy by 15 percentage points. (I should point out that some have raised questions about the methodology of that poll.)
I believe that this is in large part because we, an irresponsible media, have built a false equivalency in which the choice between Clinton and Trump seems to have equally bad implications, because we have framed it as a choice between a liar and a lunatic.
But this obscures the fact that the lunatic is also a pathological liar of a kind and quality that we have not seen in recent presidential politics and perhaps ever.
Trump is in a category all his own.
Part of the reason for Clinton’s problems is that she is being held to a traditional level of honesty and integrity, as she should be.
But Trump is being held to a wholly different, more flexible standard. When he takes a different position over years or months or days or even hours, that is not simply an innocent evolution, but a flat-out lie.
He alters his positions on a whim, depending on the audience, but the truth is steadfast. It will not accept convenient alteration.
Perhaps even more troubling is that he is prone to making up his own set of false facts. He wildly exaggerated the number of immigrants in this country illegally and “inner city” crime rates. He said President Obama founded ISIS and that “the Obama administration was actively supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group that became the Islamic State.” He said, “I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering” as the World Trade Center collapsed.
Lies one and all, but that’s just a sampling.
This is not an honest man. This is not a trustworthy man. The fact that people believe he’s honest is a result of a failed media that aims its sincerest critique at Clinton’s deficiencies with the truth, but applies an entertainment standard to Trump that corrects falsehoods but doesn’t castigate him for them.
Let’s see what Wikileaks drops in the next few weeks.
You can quote all the “Ministry of Truth” sources you want…don’t mean Sh**
Agree. The media is nothing, but regurgitated propaganda… all these “fact checking” articles are a joke. Anyone who says inner city crime rates are “wildly exaggerated” KNOWS they’re lying when they say it. Fact check this: How are those strict gun laws working for you in Chicago?
Why don’t you refute and explain the gun laws in NYC, the largest city in America???? Crickets, as it is among the lowest of any city in the country…
Just looked at stats from NYPD for 2015 and gun murders are way up. Maybe you should stop watching MSNBC and get out more.
While up, relative to other cities, on a per capita basis, still very low. Go back to school, try and finish that GED….
Oh Ike, there you go again.
This time you lifted the material for your diatribe from the New York Times Charles Blow Opinion column of Sept 8, 2016.
Personally, I think it might be said of someone who lifts material without referencing its source that
“[he] is not a person of honor”
and
“This is not an honest man”
nbc: the combover leads the female felon by 19 points in a poll of military veterans.
military veterans know obama/clinton clustersnafu leadership has ruined morale and efficiency of the military.
the nbc poll, together with the cnn poll that has the combover leading the congenital liar, has the beast’s campaign so worried they have “wired” her to feed her lines to cloak her “short circuits” and bouts of confusion. almost a deja vu of the dnc wiring senator bob menendez during the benghazi hearings.
hiLIARy’s hair stylist will be thrown under the BUS for not covering up the inductive EARBUDS.
Calling Clinton a felon is a bit of an exaggeration. She has never been convicted so is not a felon. Maybe in your own world she is. But the fact is, many of the things that Trump has done would be fodder for a circus tabloid. And if you are referring to Clinton’s use of a private server, she has not been charged even after extensive investigation. Seems the Trump supporters are so happy to call Clinton a liar but fail to see that Trump himself has never shown to be an honest businessman. Or haven’t you read this aricle that states that Trump said he did not support the war in Iraq but in 2002 stated that he guessed he was in support. Further, Trump refuses to release his tax filings. The refusal to reveal his tax filings shows that he is hiding something which is in essence being deceptive and not being honest with the public. Presidential candidates shoe their tax filing because it is pertinent to the voters to know who they are voting for when it comes to how they have dealt with their taxes. Are they the type will take advantage of tax loopholes (legal or not it shows a lot about a candidate) and are their business dealings (loans in this case originating from Russia) contrary to what is best for their country? It amazes me how many Trump supporters are so tunnel-visioned.
Let’s see what Wikileaks drops in the next few weeks.
she committed thousands of felonies just mishandling classified information in her emails. her history of money laundering, bribery, and influence peddling while secretary of state also qualify her as a felon.
Do Democrats think that if you are not caught it never happened?
nodaddynotthebelt needs the belt.
September 8, 2016 at 6:31 am
Trump is entirely unprepared, unsophisticated and without a clue. By way of specific example, his inane utterance that to the winner goes the spoils and that we (the US) take Iraq’s oil.
So many things wrong with the statement. First, no military leaders, current or retired, support such preposterous actions. Two, this is not 14th century Europe where you become the possessor of a conquered county– which leads into point three, Iraq is a country in which we are allies. Fourth, they (Iraq) is a recognized sovereign and as such we have no rights to their oil and moreover would not give up such important resource rights. Fifth, our military is not a mercenary force, and to say you would use it to protect oil companies where they extract oil, goes against the very grain of the objectives of our military. Finally, what would a country do without their oil? It is a primary, if not the largest, source of national revenue…..
An entirely simplistic but moreover impractical comment by an equally analogous man……
Agree with your comments. Also, if ground forces were left to “guard” the oil, there would have been much larger problems to deal with, than just Isel.
And, most of the oil in located in the south, which is predominantly Shia, and in the north, which is predominantly kurdish. And there are very few ISEL in either region.
Wasn’t Hawai’i an independent nation that was conquered and possessed?
ISIL is the acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Levant geographically encompasses the western parts of Syria, Lebanon, western parts of Jordan, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Israel and Sinai (Egypt) and some say even parts of Turkey. Sorry for the typo.
ISIS is the acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
…….at least President Donald Trump the GOP nominee will have a better chance of having any type of sensible dialog with Putin and the Russian people,better than the Obama and the Clinton administration could ever imagine. Did you see the “Stink Eye” Obama and Putin gave each other recently? This is what I am Talking about!
I sense great frustration in Hillary when her opponent beats her to the punch and simply resorts to Negativity. This is what the Democrats do Best,Distort and Lies .
Now ask your self ?…….. Who’s looking more Presidential these days?
Lastly,Who was the last President who possessed such a talent of Diplomacy and having any type of “Sensible Dialog” with a Russian Leader? Remember this? “Tear Down this Wall”…… And No! It was Not a Democrat President! It was the greatest president of our generation. President Ronald Reagan.
OH btw, Another Great Republican,what about Abraham Lincoln??….Oh.never mind, I think you get the Message.
Just “Do your ABC’s folks”….#AnyBody But The Clintons.lol
Thank you Mr. Moderator,I expected no less. in the time keep screening my posts. I am Honored.
Wow, Trump’s losing the notes of the military. Even if they don’t like fighting in these wars, they’ll close ranks behind their leaders.
trump leads the female felon by 19 points in a poll of military veterans. they chose to close ranks behind the combover.
You fail to mention that Republican security experts have chosen to support Clinton. You seem to be focused on one demographic poll. One demographic does not make for a complete assessment. What have you been smoking?
wil narrowed his comment to the military. my response addressed a poll of military veterans. thus, the narrow focus.
I’m aware that vets like him.
But I also think of active military. Does Trump want to risk losing this vote?
And yes security experts are sensitive to the military vote. This article is about these guys – not veterans.
uh, there are many veterans that still serve actively in the military.
similarly, there are many active military that are veterans.
Clinton and Obama are bed partners in that they both have and want to destroy are country. Obama has done it and Clinton will continue it.
“She also flushed out several national security priorities” “flushed out?” Guys if you were 9th graders, I’d give you an “F” for not even proofreading what you are copying and pasting from the AP. I really mourn the passing of editing.
Please, go back to grading high school papers.
Interviews with more than two dozen Republican operatives, state party officials and elected leaders suggest three of the 11 battleground states identified by POLITICO — Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia — are tilting so heavily toward Hillary Clinton that they’re close to unwinnable for the GOP presidential nominee. But Trump remains within striking distance in the remaining eight states, including electoral giants Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Story Continued Below
The increasing likelihood that Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia are out of reach heightens the urgency for the Republican nominee to win those still-competitive states — and to recapture steam in Pennsylvania, where he once looked formidable but now trails by 10 points, according to POLITICO’s Battleground States polling average.
Trump’s prospects look dimmest in New Hampshire, the site of his first primary election triumph in February. Republicans remain convinced it’s fundamentally a swing state, but at the presidential level, where Trump hasn’t been above 40 percent in public polls since June, many concede the cause is nearly lost.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trump-swing-state-227869#ixzz4JhRDBeOx
Come November the biggest loser in this race for Presidential election will be none other than the American people!
*losers
Because you – you! – know better than the American electorate.
Exactly!
Marie Antoinette got grilled buy a card-carrying member of the left wing media. Matt Lauer must be angling for a job with Fox News. I can’t help but be a little suspicious though. Normally with the Clintons everything is carefully choreographed. She knows the questions going in so she can respond appropriately. Like the Benghazi hearings and the sham FBI interview.
Washington Post headline: “Trump flunks the commander-in-chief test”
Jennifer Rubin, the Post’s arch-conservative columnist, wrote that nothing Clinton said as “as awful as Trump’s rambling, incoherent and at times jaw-dropping performance.”
Here are a few of the ways that Trump failed last night:
1. repeatedly insulted the military and threatened to fire generals, revealing that he doesn’t understand the role of the commander-in-chief
2. fawned over Putin
3. blamed victims for sexual assault in the military
4. lied about Iraq war support
5. discussed what happened in classified briefings
6. boasted about disrupting the government of an ally (Mexico)
7. said that he had a plan to defeat ISIS and then said that he would wait for “his” generals to come up with a plan
Anyone who equates Hillary Clinton’s “corruption” with Donald Trump’s has no idea of the facts. Consider, for example, Trump’s illegal contribution to Florida’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, after she received multiple complaints from Florida students that they were cheated by Trump University. Once she received a $25,000 donation from Trump, her office dropped the inquiry.
Or Trump’s solicitation of campaign funds from foreign officials, in clear violation of federal campaign laws.
Or Trump’s refusals to pay contractors who have done work for him, many of them small businesses.
Or Trump University’s repeated scams.
Or the Trump Network, a pyramid scheme in violation of federal securities regulations.
Or Trump Model Management, which reportedly had foreign models lie to customs officials and work in the U.S. illegally.
Or Trump’s employment of foreign guest workers at his resorts, claiming he couldn’t find Americans to do the work.
Or Trump’s history of being charged with housing discrimination.
The list goes on. Donald Trump has a proven record of corruption. Hillary Clinton does not. Anyone who equates the two hasn’t been paying attention.
It’s not even close….
Let’s see what Wikileaks drops in the next few weeks.
You forgot to mention Trump Mortgage, which was founded in 2006 when Trump said, “I think it’s a great time to start a mortgage company. The real estate market is going to be very strong for a long time to come.” Trump Mortgage collapsed in 2007.
Anyone know which military leaders Trump was talking about? And I guess, which of their decisions? Does Trump even know?
Advertiser1, Trump has not named the generals or admirals. The place to start would be with the four-star generals and admiral who comprise the Joint Chiefs of Staff who, by law, are advisers to the President, Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council. It must be assumed that they provided advice for military and foreign policy operations in the Middle-East, Africa and in the Ukraine that resulted in failures or disasters. The generals and admirals cannot be faulted for advice given and not heeded, but they can be faulted for supporting or acquiescing to decisions made by the Commander-in-Chief that are contrary to their advice.
Time to face facts self absorbed progressives. Hillary’s house of cards is about to collapse. With each passing day she has to contort herself more and more with the mountain of lies related to her private server and classified material. After she gets spanked (sorry for the visual) by Donald, she and Bill can retire to the old folks home. Hillary can take up knitting and Bill can leer at and pinch the backsides of the female staff. Then there’s morning shuffleboard followed by lunch and an afternoon nap. That gives them time to get to the early bird buffet at Golden Corral before Bill helps her remove her orthopedic socks and they hit the sack.
None of that is true of course. But enjoy your fantasy!
Mrs. Clinton is going to be elected President, and will probably remain in that office for eight years. Get used to it.
Lock her up. Game over.
her sign stronger together means Hillary and the Muslim’s will be stronger together in taking over this country if she becomes president. so all of you better buy your rugs and point them towards Mecca for prayer. because she is out to destroy America and all are freedoms.
Clingons, The fix was in even for Joe Biden. Trump wouldn’t have had a chance against him.
Sad. The only way to break the corruption is keep the Clingons out of the WH.
I mean, come on, the money being spent putting lipstick on a sow? The cover ups, DOJ, FBI?
They don’t call Teflon Don Teflon Don for nothing. Nothing sticks. Crooked Hilliary on the other hand has rotten eggs thrown at her through no one else’s’ fault but hers. She blames the conspiracy. What conspiracy?
So now Trump has made an appearance on Putin’s propaganda television network (the same network that Trump’s advisor General Flynn works for) to praise Putin and assure us that Putin would never interfere with an American election, despite evidence that he has already done so. Trump is, as former CIA deputy director Michael J. Morrell stated, “an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.
The United States has more than enough problems without trying to tell The World how to run their countries. Because we are wallowing in our own swill no one, even North Korea, takes us serious. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Just ask Obama how he’s making out. We know what Clinton did to us already.
Wake Up America.
It will be the choosing of the lesser of 2 weasels.
Good thing they didn’t have the G20 in Chicago.