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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Clinton Attacks Trump as Man| Who Would Lead U.S. to Calamity

SAN DIEGO (CN) — In a major address in San Diego, Hillary Clinton went after Donald Trump on what is considered a key vulnerability, his temperament. Firing off a volley of attacks, she said, "Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account at his disposal, but America's entire arsenal."

"He is temperamentally unfit" to be president, she told an intimate gathering of about 150 people in a Balboa Park ballroom.

"We cannot let him roll the dice with America," she said.

Many of those in the room appeared to be prominent California Democrats, including Rep. Scott Peters and San Diego Councilman Todd Gloria.

Clinton kicked off her speech, which started about half an hour late, by acknowledging Memorial Day and the veterans and military families who call San Diego home.

She told the crowd this year's election is a choice between "two Americas."

"It's a choice between a fearful America that's less secure and less engaged with the world and a confident America that keeps our country safe and economy strong," Clinton said.

During her remarks, Clinton repeatedly compared and contrasted her foreign affairs experience with that of Trump, calling his ideas "a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds and outright lies."

Clinton ticked off a lengthy list of comments she said Trump has publicly made about the foreign policy he would pursue as president, including withdrawing the United States from NATO and ordering the military to use torture and to kill or torture family members of terrorist suspects, which she called a "war crime."

But the atmosphere was almost humorous, with the crowd frequently laughing and cheering when Clinton recited comments attributed to Trump over the past year.

"He thinks we can treat the U.S. economy like one of his casinos and default on our debt to the rest of the world," Clinton said.

Calling out Trump's apparent affinity for dictators like Vladimir Putin and his praise for North Korea, Clinton said she doesn't "understand his bizarre fascination with strongmen and dictators who hate America" and denounced Trump for saying America is "weak" and "an embarrassment."

A Trump presidency would add $30 trillion to the national debt over the next 20 years, Clinton said.

Switching gears to focus on what makes her qualified to be president, Clinton said she believes in the "American tools" of diplomacy and development. She also frequently touched on the importance of maintaining allies especially in the face of terror threats from groups like the Islamic State.

In regard to the ISIS, Clinton said she would "take out strongholds in Iraq and Syria ... pursue diplomacy to end Syria's civil war ... dismantle the global network supplying terrorists with fighters and propaganda ... and win the battle in cyber space."

As for Trump's plan for defeating Islamic State terrorists, Clinton said "he's literally keeping it a secret the secret being he has no idea what he'd do."

"Through all his loose talk, there's a constant theme: demonizing Muslims. A Trump presidency would embolden ISIS," Clinton said.

But for all the talk of terrorism and the risks nations must confront in the modern world, Clinton got some of her biggest cheers and a standing ovation when she told the crowd she "stood up for the rights of women, religions minorities and LGBT people around the world" as secretary of state.

Taking another jab at Trump, Clinton said being qualified to lead the country "takes more than empty talk and a handful of slogans."

"There's no risk in people losing their lives if you blow-up a golf course deal, but there is when it comes to foreign affairs," Clinton jabbed.

"Rather than solving global crises he'd create them."

For decades, Clinton said, Trump has been saying the "world is laughing at us," and wondered "why somebody who has so little confidence in America would want to lead us."

"Americans work hard, dream bigger and we never, ever stop trying to make our country and the world a better place," Clinton told the crowd.

When Clinton brought up the military raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed, she complimented President Barack Obama's decision-making process, saying "it was a decision only a president could make." She then went on to speculate about what kind of decision Trump would have made if he were president.

"Imagine Donald Trump sitting in this same position making life or death decisions. Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account at his disposal, but America's entire arsenal," Clinton said.

"Making the right call takes a cool head and respect for the facts, it also takes humility in knowing you don't know everything. If you're convinced you're always right, you won't ask yourself the hard questions," Clinton said.

Calling on voters "deep reservoir of common sense and national pride," Clinton said electing Trump "would set back our standing in the world more than anything in recent memory."

"Our country represents something special, not just to us, but to the world," Clinton said.

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