Donald Trump on His Starring Role in Terrorist Recruitment Video: 'They Use Other People, Too'
Donald Trump, a man who was once the spokesperson for a line of steaks that he sold at Sharper Image, has now become the spokesperson for a terrorist group. Is he happy about that fact? Sort of.
Last week, a video released by the Al-Qaeda affiliate group Al Shabab featured Trump’s likeness making Islamophobic proclamations. The video featured Trump speaking to a rally “calling for a total and complete shut down of Muslims entering the united states until our country’s representative can figure out what the f*** is going on.” Next, an Al Qaeda member who was killed by a drone strike, Anwar al Awlaki, says that “the West will eventually turn against its Muslim citizens.”
Trump responded to the video on CBS’ “Face the Nation” this week by saying that terrorist groups “use other people, too” in their videos, and that his involvement calls attention to the issue:
“The world is talking about what I’ve said. And now, big parts of the world are saying, Trump is really right, at least identifying what’s going on. And we have to solve it. But you’re not going to solve the problem unless you identify it.”
Trump’s denial comes after Hillary Clinton called him “ISIS’s best recruiter” during the last Democratic debate. She went on:
“They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.”
Trump tweeted on Sunday that Clinton “lied” about the video—a claim that doesn’t really hold up. Clinton did say that ISIS, not Al Shabab, was using Trump as propaganda—but never said that ISIS made a video featuring Trump.
Hillary Clinton lied last week when she said ISIS made a D.T. video. The video that ISIS made was about her husband being a degenerate.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2016
Still, Trump has not directly addressed the fact that suggesting to ban an entire religion in the U.S. may make some people who follow that religion a little bit miffed.
