POLL: Who ‘Won’ the Commander-In-Chief Forum?
[B]POLL: Who ‘Won’ the Commander-In-Chief Forum? (See poll below, please vote)
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]Published 8:48 pm EDT, September 7, 2016 Updated 10:34 am EDT, September 8, 2016 By Olivia Stacey
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump took the stage back-to-back to answer questions on national security and the military during NBC’s Commander-in-Chief forum Wednesday night.
During the one-hour forum, sponsored by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and presented by NBC News, Clinton and Trump addressed an audience of veterans and active military members.
Read on for a recap of the event, and vote in our poll at the bottom of the post.
Characteristics of a President
Matt Lauer began the forum by asking Clinton, “What’s the most important characteristic of a president?”
Clinton without hesitation responded: “Steadiness, an absolute rock steadiness.”
Clinton used the opportunity to discuss that she was present in the situation room during the raid and capture of Osama Bin Laden. Clinton also said “temperament” is a necessary quality for the president to possess. She has frequently said Trump is temperamentally unfit to be commander-in-chief.
Clinton’s Email Server
Lauer then followed up with a question about Clinton’s private email server.
“It was something that should not have been done,” she replied.
A Navy veteran in the audience asked Clinton how she expects those with access to classified info to trust her as president. The questioner said Clinton “clearly corrupted our national security.”
Clinton defended her actions saying:
“I communicated about classified material on a wholly separate system…I did exactly what I should have done and I take it very seriously,” Clinton said.
V.A. Issues
A veteran pressed Clinton about a statement she made last October which suggested “that surveys of veterans show that they’re overall satisfied with their treatment and that the problems with the V.A. aren’t as widespread as they’re made out to be.” He then asked Clinton if she thought the problems with the V.A. were made to seem worse than they really are.
The Democratic nominee responded: “I have been very clear about the necessity for doing whatever is required to move the V.A. into the 21st century, to provide the kind of treatment options that our veterans today desperately need and deserve.”
She then said, “I will not let the V.A. be privatized, and I do think there is an agenda out there, supported by my opponent to do just that.”
According the Politifact that claim against Trump is mostly false. While he has proposed giving veterans access to private care, he hasn’t indicated he would overhaul the system.
Fighting ISIS
ISIS was the last topic Clinton discussed during her time on stage. The former secretary of state said defeating ISIS is her “highest counterterrorism goal.”
A questioner asked Clinton how she will determine whether American troops should be sent into combat missions.
“We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again, and we’re not putting ground troops into Syria,” Clinton adamantly responded. “We’re going to defeat ISIS without committing American ground troops.”
Lauer asked Trump whether he knows more about ISIS than the generals, referencing a previous statement the Republican nominee made.
Trump said “the generals have been reduced to rubble” under the leadership of Obama and Clinton.
“We have had the worst, and you could even say the dumbest, foreign policy,” he said.
However, he added that he still has “great faith in the military.” He also said that there would probably “be different generals” to advise him on ISIS policy.
A veteran in the audience asked about the specifics of Trump’s plan to defeat ISIS, to which he ultimately responded:
“I have a substantial chance of winning, and if I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.”
Iraq War
When asked about her vote as a senator to authorize the war in Iraq, Clinton called the decision to go to war a “mistake.”
She said it is “imperative that we learn from the mistakes” so that it never happens again. Clinton then turned her attention to Trump, claiming he was for the war in Iraq.
When Trump took the stage, he denied that claim and said he was against the war in Iraq. He told the audience he stated his opposition to it in an Esquire magazine article published in 2004, after the war began. According to Politifact, Trump only began to publicly oppose the war once it began, which was in 2003.
Trump’s Qualifications as President
Lauer asked Trump about his qualifications to serve as president. Trump responded by saying the “main thing” is that he “has great judgement.” He also discussed his experience in international business.
“I’ve built a great company, I’ve been all over the world, I’ve dealt with many countries,” Trump said. “I’ve had great experience dealing with an international basis.”
Sexual Assaults in the Military
Trump was asked what he would do to support all victims of sexual assault in the military by an audience member. He responded by saying it is a “massive problem” and the “numbers are staggering.” The Republican candidate added “we have to come down very, very hard on that.”
He also said he wants to keep the court system within the military. Trump added that currently, the court system “practically doesn’t exist.”
Lauer then followed up by asking Trump about a tweet from 2013.
In the tweet, Trump wrote, “Twenty-six thousand unreported sexual assaults in the military — only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?”
“It is a correct tweet,” Trump replied.
Lauer then asked if that means Trump would take women out of the military. He said, “No, not take them out, but something has to be happened.”
“When you have somebody that does something so evil, so bad as that, there has to be consequences for that person,” Trump continued. “You have to go after that person. Right now, nobody is doing anything.”
Vote in the poll below on who, if anyone, you think had the better performance:
Thank you for voting!
Donald Trump 69.6% (64,112 votes)
Hillary Clinton 27.62% (25,440 votes)
Neither 2.78% (2,558 votes)
Total Votes: 92,110
http://heavy.com/news/2016/09/who-wo...n-chief-forum/
