Hillary Clinton spoke in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Originally her speech was intended to address economic issues, and in particular how we could rebuild our infrastructure. But with the events in Orlando—and Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, Secretary Clinton gave a very different sort of address.
We are all still reeling from what happened on Sunday in Orlando. Another terrorist attack – not overseas, but here at home. So many Americans killed and wounded. A hate crime at an LGBT nightclub, right in the middle of Pride Month. The deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States. …
Since Sunday, we’ve been trying to make sense of what happened, and what we can do together to prevent future attacks.
Hillary revisited the speech she gave on Monday in which she laid out detailed plans for dealing with ISIL and global terrorism, as well as giving special attention to just the sort of ‘lone wolf’ attackers as the shooter in Orlando. However, Clinton’s policy-oriented speech came some time before Donald Trump staggered out to deliver his hate-fueled attack on immigrants, Muslims, and very specifically on Hillary Clinton. Trump’s speech included multiple charges that Hillary was anti-woman and anti-gay because she wanted to let terrorists “pour” into America to “enslave women and murder gays.”
So in addition to following up on her detailed prescription to address terrorism and gun violence, Hillary also engaged a skill in which she’s proved herself quite talented—busting Trump’s chops.
Donald Trump wants to be our next Commander in Chief. I think we all know that is a job that demands a calm, collected, and dignified response to these kinds of events. Instead, yesterday morning, just one day after the massacre, he went on TV and suggested that President Obama is on the side of the terrorists.
Just think about that for a second.
Even in a time of divided politics, this is beyond anything that should be said by someone running for President of the United States. And I have to ask – will responsible Republican leaders stand up to their presumptive nominee? Or will they stand by his accusation about our President?
It was the second time in the day that Democratic leaders asked Republicans to do one thing: Stop running away from their own candidate. Either Republicans endorse Donald Trump, including his policies, or they don’t.
Republicans are either in the Party of Trump, or they are not. Which is it?
I am sure they would rather avoid that question altogether. But history will remember what we do in this moment.
Hillary made her own feelings on the Republican nominee’s statements quite clear, and she didn’t hesitate to toss back some of the slime Donald has been spraying for years.
What Donald Trump is saying is shameful. It is disrespectful to the people who were killed and wounded, and their families. And it is yet more evidence that he is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be Commander in Chief.
Of course, he is a leader of the birther movement, which spread the lie that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States. I guess he had to be reminded Hawaii is part of the United States. This is the man who claimed a distinguished federal judge born and raised in Indiana can’t do his job because of his, quote, “Mexican heritage.” I guess he has to be reminded Indiana is in the United States.
So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. But it was one thing when he was a reality TV personality. You know, raising his arms and yelling, ‘you’re fired.’ It is another thing altogether when he’s the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for president.
Americans don’t need conspiracy theories and pathological self-congratulations. We need leadership, common sense and concrete plans.
Hillary lamented the fact that Trump’s nonsense and hate-mongering distracted from the real issues, and prevented the nation from having a debate that would have value.
The barbarity we face from radical jihadists is profound. So I would like to have a worthy debate on the best way to keep our country safe. That’s what Americans deserve.
But given what Trump provided, no debate is possible.
I read every word of Donald Trump’s speech yesterday. And I sifted through all the bizarre rants and the outright lies.
… he is fixated on the words ‘radical Islam.’ I must say, I find this strange. Is Donald Trump suggesting that there are magic words that, once uttered, will stop terrorists from coming after us? Trump, as usual, is obsessed with name-calling. …
But I will not demonize and declare war on an entire religion.
Now that we’re past the semantic debate, Donald is going to have to come up with something better.
Clinton didn’t have anything better to say about the other half of Trump’s discriminatory plan.
He wants to ban all Muslims from entering our country. And now he wants to go even further, and suspend all immigration from large parts of the world.
I’ve talked before about how this approach is un-American. It goes against everything we stand for as a country founded on religious freedom. But it is also dangerous. First, we rely on partners in Muslim countries to fight terrorists; this would make it harder. Second, we need to build trust in Muslim communities here at home to counter radicalization; and this would make it harder. Third, Trump’s words will be, in fact they already are, a recruiting tool for ISIS to help increase its ranks of people willing to do what we saw in Orlando. And fourth, he’s turning Americans against Americans, which is exactly what ISIS wants.
Clinton referenced military leaders who disagreed with Trump’s frightened-child approach to fighting terrorists, and chided Donald for statements that belittled the efforts of the military and intelligence communities for the great success they’ve had against ISIL.
Donald says our military is a disaster and the world is laughing at us. Wrong again.
She also pointed out another area of Trump’s cowardice.
One more thing. Donald Trump has been very clear about what he won’t do. He won’t stand up to the gun lobby.
The terrorist who killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in Orlando did it with two guns: a handgun and a Sig Sauer MCX rifle. If you don’t know what that is, I urge you to Google it. See it for yourself.
The question of the day—the question that won’t be ignored, posed by both President Obama and Hillary Clinton—Do Republicans support the statement that Donald Trump made on Monday calling for a ban on Muslim immigration and actions that will turn Americans against Americans? It’s time for Republicans to stop being afraid of their own nominee. Own him, or tell him he’s fired. Which will it be?
A full transcript of Hillary Clinton's speech is available here.