Trump Can’t Say Whether He Would’ve Created Japanese Internment Camps

El aspirante a la candidatura republicana a la presidencia Donald Trump, durante una rueda de prensa que coincide con el Dïa de Pearl Harbor, en Patriots Point a bordo del portaaviones USS Yorktown en Mt. Pleasant, ... El aspirante a la candidatura republicana a la presidencia Donald Trump, durante una rueda de prensa que coincide con el Dïa de Pearl Harbor, en Patriots Point a bordo del portaaviones USS Yorktown en Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina., el lunes 7 de diciembre de 2015. (AP Foto/Mic Smith) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was unable to decide if he would have supported or opposed the internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II because he wasn’t there.

“I would have had to be there at the time to tell you, to give you a proper answer. I certainly hate the concept of it. But I would have had to be there at the time to give you a proper answer,” the former reality television star told TIME magazine in an interview published on Tuesday.

This interview was published after Trump announced a new policy to ban all Muslim immigration to the U.S.

“Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension,” Trump’s statement read. “Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine.”

The 2016ers rushed to condemn Trump to varying degrees. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called him “unhinged” while Cruz cautiously said the ban “is not my policy.” Former Vice President Dick Cheney said the plan was “against everything we stand for and believe in.”

Trump also told TIME that war required “tough” choices.

“It’s a tough thing. It’s tough,” Trump said. “But you know war is tough. And winning is tough. We don’t win anymore. We don’t win wars anymore. We don’t win wars anymore. We’re not a strong country anymore. We’re just so off.”

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. The Real Question should have been:

    Would he be willing to set up interment camps for Muslims?

  2. Wait, Dick Cheney thought this was too harsh? Now that is scary.

  3. George Takei? Paging George Takei!

    So he can’t make a judgement call on whether or not he’d have done that with full hindsight of what an atrocity this was? He would have needed to be there in the height of the panic and paranoia – THEN he’d see what choice he’d make?

    Oh yeah, this guy for president…

  4. Trump isn’t a bigot – he’s a scared little baby who wants the voters to give him the weapons to shoot or isolate everything that scares him.

  5. “Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine.”
    That’s what we’re all wondering about you, Donald.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

26 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for kendyzdad Avatar for hookecho Avatar for kwoodgr Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for clemmers Avatar for bluestatedon Avatar for trippin Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for crackerjack Avatar for lio Avatar for chuck_voellinger Avatar for storm Avatar for sherlock1 Avatar for taters Avatar for tecmage Avatar for midnight_rambler Avatar for maxaroo Avatar for ronbyers Avatar for ennuithereyet Avatar for misterneutron Avatar for lemmitellya Avatar for ljb860 Avatar for springfielder

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: