ISIS's Preferred Candidate Donald Trump So Mad Hillary Clinton Says He's Helping ISIS

Just a man who loves his country

Man oh man, Donald Trump is ticked off at Hillary Clinton for suggesting he's helping ISIS, even though a lot of people are saying Donald Trump actually is helping ISIS. So what happened was Monday morning, Hillary Clinton said Donald Trump's anti-Muslim and anti-refugee statements have been less than helpful in fighting terrorism, since they actually reinforce ISIS's propaganda claims that the USA is at war with Islam.

. @HillaryClinton : Trump's rhetoric "giving aid and comfort to our adversaries," used online for terror recruitment. https: //t.co/9i5NIMfTeP 

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 19, 2016 

Clinton referred to the fact that Trump's anti-Muslim comments have been used in ISIS recruiting videos, and noted a recent Time article arguing that ISIS loves the idea of a Trump presidency, which would give them just what they want: a wider war in Syria, ideally involving U.S. ground troops:

We ... know from the former head of our counterterrorism center, Matt Olsen, that the kinds of rhetoric and language that Mr. Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries.

Trump's campaign was very angry at that, since the phrase "giving aid and comfort" to the enemy is part of the legal definition of treason, although Clinton did not actually use the word "treason" in her remarks. We have to agree Clinton stepped over the line here -- there is no evidence that Donald Trump has ever given aid or comfort to anyone in his life.

Trump's campaign issued a Very Outraged Statement about the unspeakable accusation by this woman whom they regularly accuse of planning to destroy America:

“Hillary Clinton’s comments today accusing Mr. Trump of treason are not only beyond the pale, it’s also an attempt to distract from her horrible record on ISIS. If Clinton really wants to find the real cause of ISIS, she needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror. The decision to remove all American troops from Iraq in 2011, which was vigorously supported by Clinton, created the vacuum that led to the founding of ISIS. Nothing she says or does can ever un-ring that bell. The only thing we can expect from a Hillary Clinton presidency is more attacks on our homeland and more innocent Americans being hurt and killed.” -- Jason Miller, Senior Communications Advisor

[wonkbar]<a href="https: //wonkette.substack.com/p/jeb-bush-remembers-that-one-time-his-brother-won-the-iraq-war"></a>[/wonkbar]Yeah, wrong again. ISIS was already in business well before American troops left, and its victories in Iraq had a hell of a lot more to do with the incompetence (and discrimination against Sunnis) of the Iraqi government than with the presence of American troops. The idea that George W. Bush's surge brought stability to Iraq, only for the country to disintegrate after 2010, is a myth debunked quite convincingly by Peter Beinart in 2015. Remember last year when we told you to bookmark that article? Go read it again; it's just as timely.

Also worth a read and a bookmark: this August 24 article in Foreign Affairs on why ISIS is rooting for Donald Trump to become president. They'd like nothing better:

[J]ihadists are rooting for a Trump presidency because they believe that he will lead the United States on a path to self-destruction. Last week, an ISIS spokesman wrote on the ISIS-affiliated Telegram channel, Nashir, “I ask Allah to deliver America to Trump.” Meanwhile, an ISIS supporter posted on one of the numerous jihadist “channels” hosted by the Telegram messaging application, “The ‘facilitation’ of Trump’s arrival in the White House must be a priority for jihadists at any cost!!!”

[wonkbar]<a href="https: //wonkette.substack.com/p/its-only-fair-to-ask-is-donald-trump-working-for-isis"></a>[/wonkbar]Also, we'd like to congratulate Hillary Clinton on finally catching up to the conclusion Yr Wonkette reached last December, the day after Donald Trump announced his now-maybe-partly-rescinded ( or not! ) "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on." However much he may claim otherwise, Donald Trump is one of the top recruiters for ISIS in this country. His continued demonizing of Muslims is the greatest possible gift to ISIS, and he's got the terrorists right where they want us.

And Hillary Clinton -- shame on you for saying about Donald Trump what he and his surrogates say about you several times a day. Have you no sense of decorum?

[ ABC News on Twitter / TPM / Atlantic / Foreign Affairs ]