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‘They Know Full Well Who The Enemy Is’: Obama Attacks Trump For Creating ‘Political Distraction’ Following Orlando Shooting

By Tara West
Published on: 06:59 PST, Jun 14, 2016

President Barack Obama spoke out against the “political distraction” that GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump created in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting. Obama says that Trump’s insistence that he use the word “radical Islam” is nothing more than a “political talking point” that would do nothing to combat the actual threat of terrorism. Obama angrily defended his rhetoric by noting that “there’s no magic to the phrase radical Islam,” claiming that the men and women fighting ISIL overseas “know full well who the enemy is” and that Trump’s “yapping” is divisive.

The Daily Mail reports that President Barack Obama is not taking kindly to Donald Trump’s assertion that he is refusing to use the term “radical Islam” as a political strategy. Following the horrific Orlando mass shooting, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump wrote a public statement noting that “political correctness” should be put aside as the safety of American citizens should be paramount.

“The Obama Administration, with the support of Hillary Clinton and others, has also damaged our security by restraining our intelligence-gathering and failing to support law enforcement. They have put political correctness above common sense, above your safety, and above all else.”

Trump also went on to attack his opponent Hillary Clinton for not using the words “radical Islam” when describing the terror attack in Orlando. Trump went so far as to demand that Clinton exit the race if she would not say the words publicly.

“Hillary Clinton – for months and despite so many attacks – repeatedly refused to even say the words “radical Islam,” until I challenged her yesterday to say the words or leave the race.”

Following the outcry from Trump and his supporters, Clinton responded by noting that she’d be happy to say “radical Islamism” but it would do nothing to actually “solve the problem.” President Obama echoed her sentiment by calling Trump’s statements “yapping” and a distraction from the “real issues.” Obama says he is not trying to be “politically correct” by not using the “radical Islam” term. Instead, the president claims he doesn’t use it because it isn’t effective.

There’s no magic to the phrase radical Islam. It’s a political talking point. It’s not a strategy,’ Obama said. ‘And the reason I am careful about how I describe this threat has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with actually defeating extremism. What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans, would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is none of the above. Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away, this is a political distraction.”

Obama furthered his comments by noting it is absurd to think that Americans don’t know who they are fighting. He says that the military members overseas “know full well who the enemy is” and implies that the general public does as well. Therefore, he does not feel the need to legitimize the Islamic extremists by giving them a specified term.

“So someone seriously thinks that we don’t know who we’re fighting? If there’s anyone out there who thinks we’re confused about who are enemies are, that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we’ve taken off the battlefield. They know full well who the enemy is.”

What do you think about President Barack Obama’s response to Donald Trump’s call for him to use the term “radical Islam” regarding the Orlando mass shooting?

[Photo by Susan Walsh/AP Images]

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