Obama’s angry clash with CNN anchor over his refusal to say ‘Islamic terrorism’ as he tries to justify stance to Gold Star mother
President Barack Obama was confronted by a Gold Star mother on Wednesday about his refusal to call radicals Islamists
Told her he thinks the controversy is ‘manufactured’ and doesn’t want the religion of Islam equated with terrorism
‘Do I think that if somebody uses the phrase Islamic terrorism that it’s a huge deal? No,’ he said
‘There’s no doubt that these folks think…they’re speaking for Islam. But I don’t want to validate what they do’
By FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT
DAILYMAIL.COM
29 September 2016
President Barack Obama still won’t call radicals Islamists because he says he doesn’t want to ‘validate’ their claims that they’re speaking for the Muslim religion.
Confronted Wednesday by Gold Star mother Tina Houchins, whose 19-year-old son died in Iraq before he took office, Obama told her the issue ‘has been sort of manufactured.’
‘I’ve said repeatedly that where we see terrorist organizations like al Qaeda or ISIL, they have perverted and distorted and tried to claim the mantle of Islam for an excuse, for basically barbarism and death,’ he told the woman, questioning him at a townhall put on by CNN.
Then, making an obvious reference to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Obama lambasted ‘people aspiring…to become president’ talking ‘about Muslim-Americans here and the notion that somehow we’d start having religious tests.’
‘You were clearly talking about the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, just then,’ said moderator Jake Tapper, interrupting him.
A defiant Obama replied, ‘No, I wasn’t.’
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