Clinton: Trump Isn't Qualified to Be President

BOOM:

Question: "Do you think Donald Trump is qualified to be president?"

"No, I do not." —Hillaryhttps://t.co/04viDc5G7t

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 19, 2016

CNN's Chris Cuomo: Do you think that Donald Trump is qualified to be president?

Hillary Clinton: No, I do not. And I think in this past week, whether it's attacking Great Britain; praising the leader of North Korea, a despotic dictator who has nuclear weapons; whether it is saying "pull out of NATO" or "let other countries have nuclear weapons"—the kinds of positions he is stating, and the consequences of those positions, and even the consequences of his statements, are not just offensive to people; they are potentially dangerous.

Cuomo: How so?

Clinton: Well, as I mentioned—

Cuomo: Politicians talk, Madame Secretary.

Clinton: Well—

Cuomo: They say things, but then once they get in office, people believe nothing will be that different.

Clinton: Well, when you run for President of the United States, the entire world is listening and watching. So when you say, "We're gonna bar all Muslims," you are sending a message to the Muslim world. And you're also sending a message to the terrorists—because we now do have evidence, we have seen how Donald Trump is being used to essentially be a recruiter for more people to join the cause of terrorism.

So, I think if you go through many of his irresponsible, reckless, dangerous comments, it's not just somebody saying something off the cuff. We all misstate things, we all, you know, may not be as careful in phrasing what we say. This is a pattern. It's a pattern that has gone on now for months.

And it's a pattern that adds up, in my opinion, having watched presidents, having seen the incredibly difficult work that they do and the decisions that they have to make, the thinking that goes in— Sitting in the situation room; do we go after bin Laden or not? I was part of that. Was it a clear, easy choice? Of course not. Did it have to be carefully parsed and analyzed—? And then we all gave our opinions, but it was up to the President to decide.

I know how hard this job is, and I know that we need steadiness, as well as strength and smarts, in it. And I have concluded he is not qualified to be President of the United States.

I gotta say: Lesser people, after having been attacked with a bullshit accusation of being unqualified, might be reluctant to go there with Trump, even though it is absolutely right and necessary. She knows the risk, and she did it anyway. Wow.

[Note: I also have some commentary at BNR on Cuomo's condescension toward Clinton.]