Hillary Clinton: "We have to defeat radical jihadist terrorism or radical Islamism"
Click to viewHillary Clinton on Monday broke from President Barack Obama in referring to the terrorist attack as "radical Islamism," countering Donald Trump's accusations that both she and Obama are weak on tackling terrorist threats.
In an interview with NBC's "Today" on Monday morning, Clinton said words matter less than actions, but that she didn't have a problem using the term.
"And from my perspective, it matters what we do, not what we say. It matters that we got Bin Laden, not what name we called him," Clinton said. "But if he is somehow suggesting I don't call this for what it is, he hasn't been listening. I have clearly said we face terrorist enemies who use Islam to justify slaughtering people. We have to stop them and we will. We have to defeat radical jihadist terrorism, and we will."
Both terms "mean the same thing," Clinton continued, adding, "And to me, radical jihadism, radical Islamism, I think they mean the same thing. I'm happy to say either, but that's not the point."
"I have clearly said many, many times we face terrorist enemies who use Islam to justify slaughtering innocent people. We have to stop them and we will. We have to defeat radical jihadist terrorism or radical Islamism, whatever you call it," Clinton said later on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," reiterating, "it's the same."
The U.S. cannot, on the other hand, she added, "demonize, demagogue and declare war on an entire religion." Clinton also said she could assure Americans that she is equally committed to fighting Islamic extremism as well as protecting law-abiding Muslims.
"We may be in the middle of a heated election right now, but we can't let that distract us," Clinton remarked. "Division will actually weaken us and make it harder to defeat this threat which is exactly what the terrorists want. So I am determined to do both. I have a track record of doing both, and that is what the country, I think, has every reason to demand and expect."
Trump quickly claimed credit on Twitter for Clinton's use of the term. "I have been hitting Obama and Crooked Hillary hard on not using the term Radical Islamic Terror. Hillary just broke-said she would now use!" he said.
Clinton's comments on Monday mark an evolution for her. After the San Bernardino terrorist attack, Clinton in December said she was fine using "radical jihad" but was not fond of using the term "radical Islam."
“The problem is, that sounds like we are declaring war against a religion. That to me is number one, wrong,” Clinton told ABC "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos. “It doesn’t do justice to the vast numbers of Muslims in our own country and around the world who are peaceful people.”
Trump on Sunday called on Obama to resign for not using the term - the president referred to the Orlando shooting as "an act of terror and an act of hate" - and slammed Clinton for her reluctance.
"In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words 'Radical Islam'. For that reason alone, he should step down," Trump said in a statement. "If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words 'Radical Islam' she should get out of this race for the Presidency."
Obama has refrained from using the term preferred by many Republicans, and explained earlier this year that the term "radical Islamism" inappropriately smears the religion of more than a billion people.
"[F]or us to be successful in fighting this scourge, it's very important for us to align ourselves with the 99.9 percent of Muslims who are looking for the same thing we're looking for - order, peace, prosperity - and so I don't quibble with labels. I think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that has roots in Muslim communities," Obama said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria in February. "But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology."
CIA Director John Brennan, in a 2010 speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the U.S. government avoided using either "jihadists" or "Islamists" to describe terrorists.
"Nor do we describe our enemy as 'jihadists' or 'Islamists' because jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or one's community, and there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women, and children," Brennan said.
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