Trump, Clinton battle for military voters in 1st town hall together
For the first time, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump shared a stage Wednesday night, taking turns addressing military veterans and active duty armed forces in a "Commander-in-Chief Forum" hosted by NBC’s Matt Lauer.
The former secretary of state and billionaire businessman didn’t exactly square off face-to-face in New York City Wednesday night, but the town hall no doubt will skew each campaign’s strategy in the run-up to the first presidential debate, scheduled for Monday, September 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
The rushed one-hour event pushed both presidential candidates to speak on an array of military and foreign policy issues. Read RT's live updates for more.
08 September 2016
00:56 GMTAsked if he would be ready on day one in the White House to take on a world of complicated issues, Trump said, "One-hundred percent," then pivoted to Clinton, saying, "She made a mistake on Libya. She made a terrible mistake."
- 00:55 GMT
Asked by Lauer how much he's researching daily, Trump said, "a lot, a lot."
- 00:52 GMT
A retired military officer told Trump his daughter refused to join the military after seeing the sexual harrassment figures, and asked how he would handle it.
"The best thing we can do is set up a court system within the military," Trump said.
- 00:50 GMT
"It's almost impossible to conceive that this is happening in our country," Trump said when asked about how to prevent 20 to 22 veterans committing suicide daily.
- 00:49 GMT
Asked how his words would translate into action to help veterans, Trump answered, "One of the big problems is the wait days," adding, "Vets are waiting six days, seven days, eight days."
- 00:47 GMT
If this #CommanderInChiefForum doesn't disqualify trump, then I dont know what will.
— Kid Dynamite (@Captian_Ishmael) September 8, 2016 - 00:46 GMT
"Russia wants to defeat ISIS as badly as we do," Trump said, asking, "Wouldn't it be a beautiful thing," if the US and Russia worked together.
- 00:45 GMT
A military member asked about whether or not a Trump presidency would allow undocumented persons who join or plan to join the US military to stay in the US and not be deported.
"I think that when you serve in the armed forces, that's a very special situation, and i could see myself working that out. Absolutely," Trump said.
- 00:42 GMT
"We've had the worst, and you could even say the dumbest, foreign policy," Trump said, adding that the US would have been better off never "spending a dollar in that part of the world," referring to the Middle East.
- 00:42 GMT
Forget broadcasting to the enemy what your plan is, @realDonaldTrump, and tell US what your plan is. If you have one. #NBCNewsForum
— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) September 8, 2016
