Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway strayed from her candidate’s sober, even-minded approach to combating terrorism on Wednesday, saying that the Republican nominee would finally “defeat Islam” if elected president.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, Conway attempted to make the point that the media was ignoring her candidates’ real policy proposals.
“I’m saying that he also is giving plans. He gave a 10-point Veterans Administration reform plan, 5-point plan to defeat Islam, 4-point plan for middle-class tax relief. Yesterday was his multi-point plan to, I think, as he says, ‘drain the swamp.’”
Conway clarified to the Daily Mail after the interview that she was referring to Trump’s plan to defeat “radical Islamic terrorism.”
“He released that – I’m going to say – [in] July, right before or after the convention. He had a big speech about it,” she said. “His five-point plan for defeating radical Islamic terrorism. It’s probably on the website… but he released it months ago.”
It may have been a rhetorical slip for Conway, but the rhetoric wasn’t totally alien to the Trump campaign. In December of last year, Trump announced his support of a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” He later clarified that the plan would not preclude Muslim U.S. citizens, including members of the military, from returning home after traveling or being deployed abroad. Now, he calls the program “extreme vetting.”
In March, during an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Trump said “I think Islam hates us.”
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