Hillary Clinton Delivers Foreign Policy Speech in California, Characterizes Donald Trump As ‘Unfit’
U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton delivered a foreign policy speech in San Diego this week, her latest in a series of attempts to draw criticism away from herself as she attempts to officially move past Bernie Sanders’ strong opposition in order to better challenge her expected Republican rival Donald Trump.
With the California Democratic Primary election now just days away — and allegations of Democratic voter fraud among the dozens of accusations thrown at Clinton and her supporters in recent months — members of the former Secretary of State’s campaign team believe that a statement on foreign policy was just what she needs.
“You [can] hear in her [foreign policy] speech a confidence in America and our capacity to overcome the challenges we face while staying true to our values – a strong contrast to Donald Trump’s incessant trash talking of America,” said Jake Sullivan, a Clinton senior advisor, per Time.
Sullivan would also note his stance that the upcoming 2016 presidential election “goes beyond partisanship. Donald Trump is unlike any presidential nominee we’ve seen in modern times, and he is fundamentally unfit for the job.”
Ironically, a large number of Democratic voters who tout the #BernieorBust and #HillNo movements would say the same about the former Hillary Rodham-Clinton.
Time’s Philip Elliott, meanwhile, noted that Clinton’s sudden decision to change direction and address foreign policy may actually have nothing to do with her ideas and everything to do with her own fears of falling behind the GOP’s presumptive candidate Trump, as indicated by the sliding Clinton polling figures presented by NBC News.
“Clinton, who is viewed as too hawkish by some in her party, largely kept foreign policy a secondary issue during her own primary,” observed Elliott, who noted that the candidate instead focused on domestic issues that are “more popular among her party’s liberal base.”
This, Elliott also said, “didn’t quiet worries about her [foreign policy] instincts, but [Clinton] is likely to officially win… the nomination.”
Of course, almost any sort of foreign policy would have likely garnered support among liberal voters for Clinton, as well as those news networks that cater exclusively to her followers.
To date, tenets of her expected GOP rival Donald Trump’s foreign policy have included:
- Banning Muslim and Mexican immigrants (per CNN) from entering the U.S. except in certain cases.
- Deporting illegal immigrants (per BBC) currently in the country.
- Encouraging allies such as Japan and South Korea to develop nuclear weapons (per CBS News).
- Scaling back on the U.S.’ role in NATO (per the Washington Post).
- Attempting to open the lines of communication with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to warm relations (per ABC News).
It should be noted, however, that Trump has backed off of his now famous Muslim comments, calling them a “suggestion.”
In light of some of Trump’s ideas on foreign policy, however, many voters have expressed concern that his platform could negatively affect the U.S. long-term.
“America turning inward not only will make the world more dangerous for others, but also for us,” former Defense Secretary Bob Gates under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama recently said in an address, also per Time.
Hillary schooled Donald Trump on foreign policy yesterday. Miss the speech? Catch up on some of the highlights: https://t.co/KSrFV7MnfG
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 3, 2016
Regardless of the fear being instilled in U.S. voters prior to the expected Clinton-Trump election, however, it is clear that the former candidate is testing a number of strategies in an attempt to differentiate herself from her former ally Donald Trump, according to Politifact.
In that regard, targeting his stance on foreign policy with her own mock progressive foreign policy stance could certainly go a long way.
[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]
