Following President Donald Trump’s speech on Islam Sunday morning, the normally bombastic president was hammered for refusing to use the expression “radical Islamic terrorism” – a phrase he previously criticized President Barack Obama for avoiding. “This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it,” Trump said during the televised speech. Commenters were quick to point out Trump’s cowardice in front of his hosts, with one sarcastically noting that at least Trump will come home with the “nice gold medal” that he was awarded during a ceremony on Saturday.
Asked to comment on his language during his address, the president told media outlets that language is “a very sensitive thing that can easily be used as a weapon” – a first for the sharp-tongued billionaire businessman – as well as that “I didn’t write the speech, my duty was just to read it and make it sound good.” “Look, this was one of those situations where I knew what kind of response this would provoke the moment I said the words,” Trump said. “But, it was my job to follow protocol, which at the end of the day means that I didn’t write the speech; I was only supposed to read it and make it sound good. You know how these things go – things like these happen, it’s nothing new. What am I supposed to do, fire the guy who wrote the thing? I’m supposed to be creating jobs, not ending them,” he said.
When asked to elaborate on why he was so adamant about calling out former President Barack Obama for also opting to not use the term “radical Islamic terror” during his speech, President Trump said, “That’s different. That’s way different, because I’m not…look, everybody knows who I am, alright, I’m a Christian and I don’t have a problem with any religion as long as it’s peaceful. But the thing with Obama was, I mean just listen to the name: ‘Barack Obama.’ There’s no way that’s Christian, no way. The man was a suspected Islamic president and that’s why everything was so suspicious. It’s one thing for me not to say it; I’m not a Muslim. But, when another Muslim chooses not to say it, I mean, come on, it doesn’t get more obvious than that.”
“Back then, it was a whole other ballpark. Tensions were high, he was the first black president in the history of the nation and all eyes were on him. He was also a suspected Islamic supporter, which only served to further complicate things. So, the importance of using the term back then was so much greater than now. He should have said it because that would have proven he had absolutely no sympathy for those animals. If I don’t say it, I’m just another white politician who’s expected to bash on them, such is the mindset of the folks here. I guess what I’m trying to say is, all of it carried much more weight back then. And like I said – if you want me to fire the guy who wrote the speech, I can do it, just say the word. But I don’t think that’s the way to go about this. At least not yet,” Trump concluded.
