Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Donald Trump Delivers Blistering Speech in Response to Orlando Terror Attack
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump spoke today on the threat of Islamist terror in the aftermath of the grisly Orlando attack which left 50 dead and 52 wounded. Using a teleprompter, a rare occurrence for the campaign, Trump outlined his plan to defeat ISIS and “make America safe again.” (The speech starts at about the 10:25 mark.)
Delivered in Manchester, NH, the 35-minute speech began with a criticism of Hillary Clinton, saying “she lacks the temperament and integrity to be our President.” Trump noted that “the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL was the worst terror strike on our soil since Sept. 11 and the worst mass shooting in our country’s history,” and asked for a moment of silence for the dead.
“Our nation stands together in solidarity with Orlando’s LGBT community,” he said. “It’s a strike at the heart and soul of who we are as a nation. It’s an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want, and express their identity.”
The speech wasn’t without standard Trump lines, stating again and again that our country has big problems, emphasizing his toughness, and his opposition to political correctness. It also included incorrect claims, such as claiming that the Pulse terrorist “was born in Afghan” [sic] when he was actually born in the U.S. (After a pause, he added “of Afghan parents,” so perhaps that was an error from reading the teleprompter.)
Although he has gone back and forth on the issue, Trump reiterated his plan to ban Muslim immigration until “we’re in a position to properly and perfectly screen these people.” He added, “thousands and thousands of people, many of whom have the same thought process as this savage killer” are pouring into the country.
“Radical Islam is anti-woman, anti-gay, and anti-American. I refuse to allow America to become a place where gay people, Christian people, Jewish people, are targets of persecution and intimidation by radical Islamic preachers of hate and violence.” He added, “We need to tell the truth about radical Islam and we need to do it now.”
“When it comes to radical Islam, ignorance is not bliss. It’s deadly,” Trump said, targeting the failures of Clinton and President Obama. “I will have an Attorney General, a Director of National Intelligence, and a Secretary of State who know how to fight the war on radical Islamic terror. And they will have the tools they need to do it right. Not like it’s being done now. It’s not right.”
In hitting Clinton, Trump went from legitimate concerns to overblown fearmongering, saying that radical Islamists are “trying to take over our children, and convince them how wonderful ISIS is” and claiming that the US has no screening system, when we do, albeit an insufficient one. But he is right to note that “the burden is on Hillary Clinton to tell us why we should admit anyone into our country who supports violence of any kind against gay and lesbian Americans. “
“Ask yourself who is really the friend of women and the LGBT community,” he said, “Donald Trump with his actions or Hillary Clinton with her words? I will tell you who the better friend is and someday I believe that will be proven out — bigly.”
Several commentators on the left and right criticized the speech for the usual Trumpian gaffes, misstatements, braggadocio, and lack of detail. But his tough talk on Islamic terror offered a dramatic and welcome contrast to the minced words and vague sentiments offered by President Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Published in Islamist Terrorism
I’d read that he’s moderated his position, now only wanting to ban immigrants from countries which had been identified as sources of terror against the United States, rather than banning all muslims.
Was I misinformed?
ISIS and other radical Islamists may just get Trump elected. Fear is a great persuader. And tough talking on radical Islam is his signature issue. Continued highly publicized attacks anywhere in the world will help his candidacy.
I believe his positions can accurately be kindly characterized as fluid.
It is about time we had a leader willing to say this, rather than delivering the usual pablum about Islam being a religion of peace. Good for Trump.
Around the 15′ mark Trumps says that Mateen was born in Afghanistan. Most reports I’m seeing say he was born in New York.
Regardless, this is much better than the average Trump speech, at least so far.
OMG! Someone actually said this running for President!
Wow.
I liked this speech. I did raise an eyebrow when he said “was born in Afghan of Afghan parents.” But I was listening on the radio. Now that I’ve seen the video, I believe he merely misspoke and then corrected himself. “The killer was born in Afghan… [realizes he misspoke, raises his eyebrows] of Afghan parents who immigrated to the United States.”
I thought the most effective part was when he said Hillary Clinton can’t claim to be a friend to gays if she wants to allow Islamic terrorists into the country. “Clinton wants to allow radical Islamic terrorists to pour into our country. They enslave women and they murder gays. I don’t want them in our country.”
Is there anyone on the Right would won’t say such things about radical Islam? Ted Cruz did. Marco Rubio did. Heck, Jeb Bush did.
Trump is right on this particular point… but so was everyone on our side.
That seems plausible.
Even for Trump, he’s being careful to qualify it as “radical Islam.” But on the other hand, his policy prescriptions don’t differentiate, and can’t differentiate, as there are currently no way effective screening for radical. But in this case, since the person was born in the US (actually, as opposed to Trump’s misstatement in the video), a screening system wouldn’t be able to pick out a person who hadn’t been born yet after his parent immigrated. So applied to this case, the positive effect of keeping all out would not necessarily be felt until the timeframe when a future generation could be radicalized. Immigration freeze won’t have a quick response, excepting perhaps for what message it might be sending in the short run.
Amen to that.
The appeal to gays is interesting. And smart, considering how weak Clinton is on that issue.
The question before the house is which of the following is most likely to pursue a vigorous offense against Islamic terrorism:
Was there a point to providing us with the first ten minutes of the recording before the speech began?
What we’re experiencing with people praising Trump’s speech is an example of the soft bigotry of low expectations.
Trump doesn’t have the current president’s mad Teleprompter skillz, so there will be some stumbling. One example is the way he pronounced “Orlando” near the beginning. Not a big deal.
As James of England pointed out to me, Cruz was actually the most obnoxious on this point.
I think Trump is being too generous in insisting that Obama and Clinton are incompetent. With this last attack, and their reaction to it, I am now convinced that the globalist left tolerates a certain level of Islamic violence as long as that violence can be spun to further the globalist left’s agenda.
“Evil” is accurate, but would not sell well in the public discourse.
That’s never stopped Trump before.
Circa Sunday Feb 7th 2016
It will be quite an accomplishment if the Donald is able to get Hillary to say “Radical Islam”.
There’s a better chance of seeing her announce Monica Lewinsky as her running mate.
She said it this morning. When is the announcement for Clinton/Lewinsky 2016?
When she says it in a debate with Donald, in front of a live audience, I’ll believe it. Until then, it will be down the YouTube memory hole faster than you can say Ambassador Stevens’ pants.
Are you familiar with the term goalpost shifting?
The most needed thing in fighting Islamic Jihad is to actually want to. At least Trump clears that hurdle.
Like I said, the soft bigotry of low expectations. We’re supposed to be happy when Trump manages to take a generic Republican position. Hurray!
Relieved would be more like it. Still waiting for Hillary to take that generic Republican position.
Right, but this is an example of how reluctantly supporting Trump because Hillary is worse slides into praising Trump for not making too much of an ass of himself. Once someone decides he’s their guy, there’s an inevitable tendency to put a favorable gloss on him. It’s hard to maintain the strictly objective “he’s completely awful, but not quite as completely awful as her” line.