At a rally in North Carolina on Thursday, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump offered words of praise for late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein:
Saddam Hussein was a bad guy, right? He was a bad guy—really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn't read 'em the rights. They didn't talk. They were a terrorist—it was over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism. You want to be a terrorist? You go to Iraq. It's like Harvard. Okay?
The U.S. designated Iraq a state sponsor of terrorism following its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, a classification that was only removed after Saddam’s ouster in 2003. While he ruled Iraq, Saddam paid millions to the families of suicide bombers who launched attacks against Israeli citizens.
Trump has said the exact same thing in the past, but this time, several conservative journalists have reacted to Trump’s latest remarks with extreme disgust. One, John Podhoretz, called Trump “fucking insane.” Watch video of Trump’s comments below.