HEWITT: I want to ask you a question, though, you promised us great leaders. And I believe that. But Jeb Bush has laid out 20 different people that have experience around the world. There are 190 countries, you can’t run the world by yourself.
When are we going to get some names on your military and your foreign policy advisers?
TRUMP: (inaudible) I’m — and I’m meeting with people that are terrific people, but I have to say something because it’s about judgment.
I am the only person on this dais — the only person — that fought very, very hard against us, and I wasn’t a sitting politician going into Iraq, because I said going into Iraq — that was in 2003, you can check it out, check out — I’ll give you 25 different stories.
TRUMP: In fact, a delegation was sent to my office to see me because I was so vocal about it. I’m a very militaristic person, but you have to know when to use the military. I’m the only person up here that fought against going into Iraq.
One would think if he was so vocal about it and if there were a “delegation” sent to his office, he might be able to produce ONE of the 25 stories (I said “dozens” and 25 is, in fact, more than 2 dozen) that he promised he could produce.
Your willingness to attribute a very nuanced “soft sell” to Trump doesn’t match his own claims about his “vocal opposition” to the war prior to its commencement.
Thank you for providing the context.
I am the only person on this dais — the only person — that fought very, very hard against us, and I wasn’t a sitting politician going into Iraq, because I said going into Iraq — that was in 2003, you can check it out, check out — I’ll give you 25 different stories.
Very hard against "us"? maybe a typo? Hope he did not mean to fight against "us"?
The operative words for the timing of his vocal opposition were:
going into Iraq — that was in 2003
This could be interpreted as before the war started, in which case his statement was not accurate. However, provided he clearly was making the distinction in his mind, he may have meant the time before and during the early stages of the war, in which case he was vocally opposed from what I have read, but I have not researched the matter deeply enough to know the number of stories that support this.
The meaning may not have been completely clear in his mind since he was not studying a timeline of events and may not have perfect recall on the matter.
Not sure what the delegation reference means either.
So far he seems to have been reasonably honest and straight forward on the matter, albeit a bit ego eccentrically focused.
The gnats you have left to grasp at are the kind of timing and detail issues that are always inconsistent with any real accounts by eye witnesses to events a few years ago.
I appreciate your hard-work and desire to breathe life into a gottcha attempt that flopped. But sometimes it turns out that the suspect is innocent.