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Hillary Clinton Warns Donald Trump’s ‘Thin Skin’ Would Set off War or Economic Crisis Hillary Clinton Warns Donald Trump’s ‘Thin Skin’ Would Set Off War or Economic Crisis
(35 minutes later)
Ridiculing her likely opponent for the presidency as ignorant, erratic and emotionally childlike, Hillary Clinton unleashed a scabrous new attack on Donald J. Trump on Thursday, presenting a dark vision of a potential Trump presidency that would lead America and the world unnecessarily into military conflict or economic crisis. Ridiculing her likely opponent for the White House as ignorant, erratic and emotionally childlike, Hillary Clinton unleashed a caustic attack on Donald J. Trump on Thursday, presenting a dark vision of a potential Trump presidency that would lead America and the world into unnecessary military conflict or economic crisis.
“This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes,” Mrs. Clinton said in a speech in San Diego that featured her most forceful condemnation yet of the presumptive Republican nominee. “It’s not hard to imagine Donald Trump leading us into war just because somebody got under his very thin skin.”“This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes,” Mrs. Clinton said in a speech in San Diego that featured her most forceful condemnation yet of the presumptive Republican nominee. “It’s not hard to imagine Donald Trump leading us into war just because somebody got under his very thin skin.”
Mrs. Clinton, whose campaign had grappled for weeks over how it would contend with Mr. Trump, seemed to find her footing as she addressed an audience that howled and cheered as she deconstructed Mr. Trump’s foreign policy pronouncements, calling them “not even really ideas, just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds and outright lies.” Mrs. Clinton, whose campaign had grappled for weeks over how to contend with Mr. Trump, seemed to find her footing as she addressed an audience that howled and cheered as she deconstructed Mr. Trump’s foreign policy pronouncements, calling them “not even really ideas, just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds and outright lies.”
The speech, which interlaced biting sarcasm and somber assessments of foreign crises, unveiled what is likely to be the core of argument Mrs. Clinton will carry into a general election battle. The speech, which interlaced biting sarcasm and somber assessments of foreign crises, unveiled what is likely to be the core argument Mrs. Clinton will carry into the general election.
Calling Mr. Trump “Donald” throughout , Mrs. Clinton sought to portray her likely rival as a petulant youngster whose temperament and penchant for combat would “take our country down a truly dangerous path.” Calling Mr. Trump “Donald” throughout, Mrs. Clinton sought to portray her likely rival as a petulant youngster whose temperament and penchant for combat would “take our country down a truly dangerous path.”
Her address was billed as a major foreign policy address but was devoid of new policy prescriptions. Yet she borrowed a tactic from President Obama, interspersing biting cable-news catnip at regular intervals and ensuring the kind of sustained live coverage that Mr. Trump has enjoyed routinely but Mrs. Clinton has not. To an extent, the speech was the result of weeks of study by Clinton aides of what attacks by Mr. Trump’s Republican rivals had not worked. It was billed as a major foreign policy address, but was devoid of new propoals. Instead, it was studded with punchlines: Mr. Trump “doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about,” she said at one point. “Donald doesn’t see the complexity,” she said at another.
She said she imagined Mr. Trump was “composing nasty tweets” about her as she spoke. And, indeed, Mr. Trump was: “Bad performance by Crooked Hillary Clinton! Reading poorly from teleprompter! She doesn’t even look presidential,” he wrote. At her most pointed, and humorous, Mrs. Clinton delivered an acid assessment of Mr. Trump’s temperament that even questioned his psychological state.
But Mrs. Clinton sought to turn Mr. Trump’s prolificTwitter habit into an additional bullet point showing that he was “unfit” for the presidency, as she put it. She twice referred to the scene in which, as secretary of state, she advised Mr. Obama on the raid on a compound in Pakistan in which Osama bin Laden was killed. “I don’t understand Donald’s bizarre fascination with dictators and strong men who have no love for America,” Mrs. Clinton said, pointing to the praise for Mr. Trump from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the North Korean government of Kim Jong-un. “I will leave it to the psychiatrists to explain his affection for tyrants,” she said.
With such acerbic political jabs lacing its more policy-laden sections, the speech ensured the kind of sustained live coverage on cable news stations that Mr. Trump has enjoyed routinely but Mrs. Clinton has seldom received.
She said she imagined Mr. Trump “composing nasty tweets” about her as she spoke. And, indeed, Mr. Trump was: “Bad performance by Crooked Hillary Clinton! Reading poorly from teleprompter! She doesn’t even look presidential,” he wrote.
But Mrs. Clinton sought to turn Mr. Trump’s prolific Twitter habit into an additional bullet point showing that he was unfit for the presidency, as she put it. She twice referred to the scene in which, as secretary of state, she advised President Obama on the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
“Imagine Donald Trump sitting in the situation room, making life or death decisions on behalf of the United States,” Mrs. Clinton said, eliciting cries of “No!” from her audience. “Imagine if he had more than his Twitter account at his disposal when he’s angry.”“Imagine Donald Trump sitting in the situation room, making life or death decisions on behalf of the United States,” Mrs. Clinton said, eliciting cries of “No!” from her audience. “Imagine if he had more than his Twitter account at his disposal when he’s angry.”
(In an interview during Mrs. Clinton’s speech, Mr. Trump called her performance “terrible” and “pathetic.” He added: “I’m not thin-skinned at all. I’m the opposite of thin-skinned.”)
The speech was written by Mrs. Clinton’s speechwriter, Dan Schwerin, and her top policy aide, Jake Sullivan, with assistance from advisers including Mr. Obama’s former speechwriter Jon Favreau. And it came as a meaty rebuttal to Democrats who have expressed concern lately that her campaign seemed to lack gumption in going after Mr. Trump.
She wasted no time declaring at the top of her speech that not only was Mr. Trump unfit to be commander in chief, but that his very position as a leading presidential candidate threatened the foundation of American optimism.
Striking a bipartisan note, Mrs. Clinton recalled an advertisement Mr. Trump took out in newspapers in 1987, during the Reagan administration, “saying that America lacked a backbone and that the world was, you guessed it, laughing at us.”
“You’ve got to wonder why somebody who fundamentally has so little confidence in America, and has felt that way for at least 30 years, wants to be our president,” she said.
But even that sober assessment paled in comparison to Mrs. Clinton’s belittling portrayal of Mr. Trump as a kind of pathetic Richie Rich, both sinister and sad, whose experience running beauty pageants and golf courses, and bankrupting casinos, had left him wholly unprepared for the job he wants.
Evoking her experience representing the United States as first lady, a senator and then secretary of state, she heaped disdain on Mr. Trump’s background.
“He says he has foreign policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe pageant in Russia,” Mrs. Clinton said. “There’s no risk of people losing their lives if you blow up a golf course deal.”