Posted on 02/14/2016 2:52:49 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Donald Trump sought Sunday to walk back his statements during Saturday night's Republican debate that former President George W. Bush bore responsibility for the Sept. 11 terror attack.
"I am not blaming him," Trump said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.
Trump continued to imply Bush erred, however. "The CIA said there was a lot of information that something like that was going to happen," he said. The attacks killed just under 3,000 Americans.
During Saturday night's debate, Trump told former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: "The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign, remember that."
"How did he keep us safe?" Trump said later. "I lost hundreds of friends. The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George Bush. He kept us safe? That is not safe."
Trump holds a large lead in South Carolina. A CBS poll released Sunday put his support at 42 percent. That is more than double the 20 percent of the second-place candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., polled in third at 15 percent.
But in the wake of the debate, many pundits argued Trump risks losing support of pro-military conservative voters in South Carolina and other upcoming primary states, among whom George W. Bush remains popular.
For some GOP voters, Trump's faulting of Bush may have sounded too similar to Democratic denunciations of the former president, who faced criticism at the time for taking a lengthy vacation in the weeks prior to the attack, which occurred nine months into his presidency.
Hoping to capitalize on the those views, Rubio responded to Trump's claims Saturday by arguing former President Bill Clinton was at fault for the 9/11 attacks. Clinton failed to kill Osama bin Laden, Rubio said.
Trump on Sunday also seemed to walk back his claim that the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.
"They lied," Trump said during the debate. "They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none."
On Sunday, Trump said George W. Bush "thought there were weapons of mass destruction, maybe, or maybe he didn't."
Trump insisted the invasion of Iraq was a "disaster" that continues to spread instability.
"We would have been so much better off if Bush and the rest of them went to the beach and didn't do anything," Trump said. "If you had Saddam Hussein, he was a bad guy and all of that, but he made a living off killing terrorists. Now if you want to become a terrorist you go to Iraq."
Trump spoke just hours after he fired off a series of post-midnight tweets arguing he fared well in the debate.
Saturday's debate "might have been my best performance," Trump said Sunday.
were they WMDs?
But the NY times on Trump is fine. OK.
I'm not going to attempt to read Trumps mind, but the fact remains that he is not only running against the brother of the guy who got us into war in Iraq but also the likely Dem candidate who voted for that war while in the Senate.
There are a lot of Democrats, including Code Pinko, who will never forgive her for that. See: Bernie
They were among items banned under the cease fire resolution. They also were operating centrifuges in attempts to enrich uranium.
I didn’t particularly like “W” Bush but I won’t play your “Iraq was pure and innocent” BS game.
“I’m not going to attempt to read Trumps mind, but the fact remains that he is not only running against the brother of the guy who got us into war in Iraq but also the likely Dem candidate who voted for that war while in the Senate.”
Trump is getting standing ovations from the left.
The socialists don’t care about Hillary’s feelings, they just want a couple more Judges and control. As far as reading the Donald’s mind...it should just take a second and one of his secret decoder rings.
I won't play your “Iraq was pure and innocent†BS game.
Where have I claimed that Iraq was pure and innocent huh? where? I just said that Bush lied about the primary casus bellum-active WMD programs that posed an imminent threat to the US or our allies. I have also said that his decision to invade Iraq set off the chain of events that led to our current situation. I judge all men by the outcome of their deeds. This current chaos is the outcome of his deed.
This isn't a game to me btw. I believe what I'm saying is true. I said it at the time and I say it now, we should have found a different way to deal with Iraq but they didn't want to find a different way. They wanted to invade and they fixed their intelligence to justify that end.
“Threatened by the Bush machine?”
That is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time! THE DONALD being afraid of anything, preposterous!
Then you know very little about the Bushies.
“Then you know very little about the Bushies.”
We are not talking about the Clinton’s here, beside THE DONALD, could have a horse head delivered to JEBBIE anytime!
Do some research.
“Do some research”
You mean like George Bush senior was suppose to be in Dallas on the day JFK was assasinated and how he collaborated with LBJ, some big oil types, CIA, and even the then owner of the Dallas Cowboys!
You don’t think Trump knows this and has enough people to protect him! Don’t get near the heat if you can’t stand the fire!
Oh, Lord, is it that time of night again when you are let out of your cage? You go girl, dig up all the negative articles you can. It keeps you busy, I suppose and makes your meaningless life easier to deal with.
I’ve just started my day Catsrus.
It’s a wonderful morning - early, peaceful, promising.
Wrote Trump:
Consider Iraq. After each pounding from U.S . warplanes, Iraq has dusted itself off and gone right back to work developing a nuclear arsenal. Six years of tough talk and U.S. fireworks in Baghdad have done little to slow Iraq's crash program to become a nuclear power. They've got missiles capable of flying nine hundred kilometers-more than enough to reach Tel Aviv. They've got enriched uranium. All they need is the material for nuclear fission to complete the job, and, according to the Rumsfeld report, we don't even know for sure if they've laid their hands on that yet. That's what our last aerial assault on Iraq in 1999 was about. Saddam Hussein wouldn't let UN weapons inspectors examine certain sites where that material might be stored. The result when our bombing was over? We still don't know what Iraq is up to or whether it has the material to build nuclear weapons. I'm no warmonger. But the fact is, if we decide a strike against Iraq is necessary, it is madness not to carry the mission to its conclusion. When we don't, we have the worst of all worlds: Iraq remains a threat, and now has more incentive than ever to attack us. - Trump Wrote Iraq WMDs Were Threat Year Before Bush Took Office
I’d bet ten dollars against a donut that the reason he’s saying what he’s saying is because his WIFE told him following the debate that it was UNNECESSARY and made him look angry.
Certainly it’s because Trump knew what he wrote in his book “The America We Deserve” [2000] - quoted and linked above in Post #155.
Trump is campaigning with a broad brush, and he’s certainly rough around the edges. But the palette is good.
Trump is campaigning with smears and lies.
To suggest you’ll be voting for a politician that doesn’t?
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