Clinton Calls Trump's Lack of ISIS Plan 'Disqualifying'

ByJOSH HASKELL ABCNews logo
Thursday, September 8, 2016

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton criticized her White House rival this morning, telling reporters that Republican nominee Donald Trump has "failed yet again" to show that he is capable of being commander in chief.

Clinton, speaking to reporters at Westchester County Airport before taking off for a campaign rally in North Carolina, slammed Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a forum hosted by NBC last night, saying Trump took "the astonishing step of suggesting that he prefers the Russian president to our American president. Now, that is not just unpatriotic and insulting for the people of our country as well as to our commander in chief - it is scary. Because it suggests he will let Putin do whatever Putin wants to do. And then make excuses for him."

She also accused Trump of not having a plan to defeat ISIS - a factor that should be "disqualifying" for voters, she said. Trump argued that he would not release details of his foreign policy plans because doing so could ultimately aid the enemy.

During the forum, which took place at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in Manhattan, Trump said under "President Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble." Today Clinton referred to Trump's statement as "trash talking" and said it had no place in today's politics.

The former secretary of state addressed Trump's comment that the president did not follow the recommendations of his intelligence briefings.

"I think what he said was totally inappropriate. And undisciplined. I would never comment on any aspect of an intelligence briefing I received," said Clinton.

After the forum, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted about Clinton's demeanor and "no smile."

Clinton brushed off the criticism.

"Just making political happy talk. And I had a very short window of time in that event last night to convey the seriousness with which I would approach the issues of our country. Trump chose to talk about his deep admiration and support for Vladimir Putin. Maybe he did it with a smile, and I guess the RNC would have liked that," she said.

During today's press conference, Clinton reaffirmed her commitment to defeating ISIS and said she would make it a top priority to hunt down the terrorist group's leader and bring him to justice as the U.S. did with Osama bin Laden. She urged every Republican to respond to the statements made by their party's nominee last night, adding that she would disagree with Trump even if she weren't running for president.

"If I were just a concerned citizen, I'd be out here doing everything I could to sound the alarm about someone like Donald Trump getting anywhere near the White House, and I will continue to do that," she said.

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