Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump demanded Wednesday the news media stop describing the architect of the terrorist attacks in Paris as a “mastermind” and start calling him what he really is: “scum.”
Riding high after a poll showed him doubling up his closest Republican rival in New Hampshire, Mr. Trump traveled to neighboring Massachusetts, where he told the large crowd at the DCU Center in Worcester that the nation must “take back the Internet” and warned that the press is playing right into the hands of terrorists by making children in states across the United States think of them “like Robin Hood.”
“The press is calling the leader of the pack a ’mastermind,’” Mr. Trump said, alluding to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was reportedly killed in Paris on Wednesday after putting together the attacks last week. “He is not a mastermind. He is a low-life. This is just a low-life guy. He is a bum. He is a bum. I bet he doesn’t have a 90 IQ. “
Mr. Trump said terrorists have taken over the Internet and “are brainwashing our youth.”
“We can’t allow it to happen,” Mr. Trump said. “We have to take back our country. We have to take back our intelligence. We have to take back the Internet. We can’t let this happen.”
The Trump rally came shortly after Fox News released a poll showing Mr. Trump as the top pick of 27 percent of New Hampshire Republicans, followed by Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida with 13 percent and Ted Cruz of Texas with 11 percent.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush registered at 9 percent, as did retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, whom Mr. Trump mocked multiple times.
“He is going down. He is going down,” he said. “You’ve got to know about foreign policy. You’ve got to know. You’ve got to study. You’ve got to be able to get that stuff.”
Mr. Trump’s appearance in Worcester was interrupted on more than one occasion by immigration activists who oppose his calls to build more border fencing, remove illegal immigrants from the country and end birthright citizenship.
The crowd cheered on Mr. Trump, chanting, “Build the Wall! Build the Wall!” and “USA! USA!”
After a protester was forcefully removed from the arena, Mr. Trump quipped, “Isn’t a Trump rally much more exciting than these other guys?
“That kind of stuff only adds to the excitement,” he said. “It is just incredible.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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