Donald Trump blasted Hillary Clinton Tuesday for being weak on fighting terrorism, saying she attacks his supporters more viciously than radical Islamic terrorists and supports lax immigration policies that put Americans at risk.
He said that’s why she lacked the “moral clarity” to be president.
“She calls the patriotic Americans who support our campaign — many of them cops and soldiers — deplorable and irredeemable. Has she ever talked that way about Radical Islam?” the Republican presidential nominee said at a rally in High Point, North Carolina.
The intense focus on terrorism and national security follow the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey, allegedly carried out by an Afghanistan immigrant who became a U.S. citizen.
“She calls the patriotic Americans who support our campaign — many of them cops and soldiers — deplorable and irredeemable. Has she ever talked that way about Radical Islam, or about those who oppress and murder women and gays oversea,” he asked.
He continued: “Anyone who cannot name our enemy, is not fit to lead this country. Anyone who cannot condemn the hatred, oppression and violence of Radical Islam lacks the moral clarity to serve as our president.”
Mr. Trump vowed to “defend our values — and speak out against all those who assault our values in any way.”
The criticism of the Democratic nominee referred to Mrs. Clinton’s remark at a fund-raising event last week when she said that “half” of Mr. Trump’s supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorable,” calling them racist, homophobic and Islamophobic.
She later said she regretted saying “half.”
Mrs. Clinton, who served as secretary of state for President Obama, has said the bombings demonstrate the need for a tested leader and warned that Mr. Trump would be a “loose cannon” on the world stage.
Mr. Trump said the country’s open immigration policies made possible the weekend bombings, and he vowed to restore common sense to American immigration policy.
“Attack after attack — from 9/11 to San Bernardino to Orlando — we have seen how failures to screen who is entering the United States puts all of our citizens in danger,” he said. “So let me state this very clearly: immigration security is national security.”
Mr. Trump previously proposed “extreme vetting” for people coming to the United States from countries that are hotbeds for terrorism, which as a modified version of his plan to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the U.S.
The New York billionaire also has vowed to block the settlement in the U.S. of thousands of Syrian refugees, who can’t be properly vetted, accordion to FBI and Homeland Security officials.
“This isn’t just a matter of terrorism, but also quality of life. We want to make sure we are only admitting people into our country who love our country,” Mr. Trump said.
“My highest duty as President is to protect our citizens and to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I will honor that duty to the fullest extent every single day — and I will never waver in that sacred obligation,” he said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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