ESTERO, FLA.: Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of giving “aid and comfort” to terrorists Monday, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps groups such as Islamic State recruit new fighters. Trump showed no sign of changing and insisted the U.S. should “use whatever lawful methods are available” to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend’s bombings.
As Trump supporters at a packed rally in Florida shouted “Hang him!” the Republican presidential candidate mocked the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation.
“We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people,” he said. “These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong.”
Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of attacks — bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall — casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad.
Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make “some kind of demagogic point.”
“I’m the only candidate in this race who’s been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield,” Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. “I know how to do this.”
The possibility of a home-grown terrorist plot cast a new shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates’ attention from the daily controversies of the campaign and giving them a high-profile opportunity to make their case to undecided voters.
Clinton and her team see her experience and what they say is her steady judgment as key selling points for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Barack Obama at that moment.
But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Clinton, Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close U.S. borders and vows to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fueled his presidential bid.
On Monday, he called for tougher policing, including profiling foreigners who look like they could have connections to terrorism or certain Mideastern nations.
“This isn’t just a matter of terrorism, this is also really a question of quality of life,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re only admitting people into our country who love our country.”
Pointing to her Monday morning comment that Trump’s words give “aid and comfort” to Islamic extremists, his campaign said Clinton was accusing him of treason, going beyond the bounds of acceptable campaigning.
She insinuated that Islamic militants, particularly those affiliated with IS, are rooting for Trump to win the White House. She said, “We’re going after the bad guys and we’re going to get them, but we’re not going to go after an entire religion.”
Meanwhile, the Commission on Presidential Debates said moderator and NBC anchor Lester Holt has chosen three topics for the Sept. 26 debate: America’s direction, prosperity and security.