Another day, another controversial remark. Donald Trump repeatedly called President Barack Obama the ‘founder of ISIS’ during a rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Wednesday, August 10.
The GOP presidential nominee, 70, name-dropped Obama, 55, while discussing what a huge mistake it was for the U.S. to go to war with Iraq in 2003, during Republican President George W. Bush’s first term.
“Normally you want to clean up; [Obama] made a bigger mess out of it. He made such a mess,” Trump said. “In fact, in many respects, you know they honor President Obama. ISIS is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder of ISIS, OK? He’s the founder. He founded ISIS.”
Additionally, Trump called his presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton, the “cofounder” of the terrorist organization.
Trump isn’t taking back what he said. On Thursday, he repeated himself during an interview with CNBC.
“The way he removed our troops — you shouldn’t have gone in. I was against the war in Iraq. Totally against it,” he said. “That mistake was made. It was a horrible mistake — one of the worst mistakes in the history of our country. We destabilized the Middle East and we’ve been paying the price for it for years. He was the founder — absolutely, the founder. In fact, in sports they have awards, he gets the most valuable player award.”
Earlier this week, Trump made headlines once more when he suggested that gun rights advocates should take down Clinton, 68. “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment,” he said at the University of North Carolina on Tuesday. “And if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although, the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.”
Trump’s team later stated that the former Celebrity Apprentice host was just joking. The U.S. Secret Service, however, contacted his campaign about the matter.
Watch Trump at his Florida rally in the video above.
