Trump hits Clinton hard in SWFL visit
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump hammered Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton over terrorism Monday in the wake of bombings in New York City and New Jersey and vowed to bring swift justice against attackers as president.
Trump used his appearance in Estero at Germain Arena before a packed crowd in the 8,000-seat venue to question Clinton’s ability to lead, saying she lacked “the moral authority for president” because she refused to cite “radical Islam” as the culprit and refused to condemn its hateful nature. Trump also argued that Clinton promotes immigration policies that increase the risk of terrorism in the U.S.
“This is the kind of thing we need to have an honest conversation about when devising screening methods,” Trump said in his first public appearance since the New York City and New Jersey bombings. “And unless we have those methods, sorry folks, you can’t come into this country.”
Clinton, in a brief press appearance early Monday, accused Trump again of inspiring hate against the U.S. through his words and focusing on a religion instead of terrorism.
“We know that a lot of the rhetoric we’ve heard from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular ISIS, because they are looking to make this into a war against Islam rather than a war against jihadists, violent terrorists,” said Clinton, speaking at an airport hangar in White Plains, New York.
“They want to use that to recruit more fighters to their cause by turning it into a religious conflict. That’s why I’ve been very clear: 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 and give ISIS exactly what it is wanting,” Clinton said.
Trump spent much of his speech in Southwest Florida criticizing Clinton and President Barack Obama over national security and immigration, again linking the two issues by saying “immigration security is national security.”
Trump claimed liberal immigration policies that don’t screen immigrants well enough have made the U.S. less safe.
“The people in Afghanistan and Iraq say honor killings of women are justified. We’ve admitted around 100,000 from these countries over the last short period of time,” Trump said. “And this thug today, they think he came from Afghanistan.
“What kind of screening procedures were performed?
“We should temporarily suspend immigration entirely from regions where safe and adequate screening cannot occur,” he said.
The suspect in Saturday’s bombings, Ahmad Khan Rahami, is a New Jersey resident of Afghan descent and a naturalized U.S. citizen. Omar Mateen, the shooter at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando who killed 49 people in June, is also a U.S. citizen.
Trump offered thanks to police for capturing the “evil thug who planted the bombs” in New York and New Jersey.
But catching him was not enough, Trump said. Because, as he explained, this terrorist would be subject to American hospitals, complete with the best doctors and, perhaps, even room service.
Trump said Rahami likely would receive the best lawyers from the American criminal justice system. And eventually his case would be lost among the various courtrooms, blunting the punishment that would have been granted had his case moved more quickly.
“What a sad situation,” Trump said. “We must have speedy but fair trials, and we must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people.”
The United States should be able to use “whatever lawful methods are available” to obtain evidence from the terrorism suspect “before it’s no longer timely.” He said Congress had to ensure the “foreign enemy combatants” were treated as such. And finally, Trump said, Clinton was simply too weak to make all of this happen.
“Hillary Clinton is a weak and ineffective person. And I will tell you, if you choose Donald Trump, these problems are going to go away,” Trump said.
Trump repeated his claim that ISIS was the result of Obama’s foreign policies promoted by Clinton as secretary of state in places like Syria and Iraq. He said an expert told him recently that Iran had now essentially taken over Iraq.
“I was against going into the war in Iraq, but we got out the wrong way,” Trump said. “Great job, President Obama, great job.”
Christine Haworth, 44, of Fort Myers, said part of the appeal of Trump for her is that he is a Christian.
“He believes in God. God is part of our country. We believe in one God. It’s in our national anthem, which we had to remove from all of our schools,” Haworth said, which was effectively “taking America away from America.”
Laurie Wagner, 54, of Bonita Springs, said the terrorist attacks in New York made her so nervous she didn’t even want to stand by the outside dumpster as she waited in line to get in to Germain Arena.
Trump made her feel safe.
“He will not allow people into the county who aren’t for us,” Wagner said. “They have to love America and the American way.”
Hundreds of Southwest Florida residents eager to see Trump on Monday showed up about 8 a.m. at Germain to get in line for a seat. The doors opened an hour early to help the crowd of thousands lined up by then find relief from the summer heat.
No significant protests were reported at the arena after security denied access to groups hoping to offer opposing views. Several small groups of two or more protesters held signs at nearby intersections.
Susie Wiles, Trump’s new Florida campaign manager, said Trump’s visit to Southwest Florida was designed to rally his base and run up the numbers of votes he receives in heavily Republican Lee and Collier counties. Trump is the first Republican candidate to visit the region since President George W. Bush’s campaign in 2004.
A new poll released by the New York Times lists the candidates in a dead heat in Florida. The same poll shows Trump is beating Clinton 45 percent to 42 percent in Southwest Florida.
Trump has crisscrossed Florida in recent weeks, also visiting Pensacola and Miami. His running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, stopped in The Villages on Saturday.
Clinton has scheduled a rally in Orlando on Wednesday.