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
Asked 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."
Asked by Lauer how much he's researching daily, Trump said, "a lot, a lot."
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.
"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.
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."
"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.
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.
"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.
A military member asked Trump what plan he had for after his "secret plan" to defeat ISIS ends, to prevent a resurgence of terrorism in the Middle East. Trump recognized the premise, saying, "We go in, we defeat somebody, then we don't know what we're doing after that."
Trump emphasized his long-held position that the US should've confiscated Iraq's oil at the end of the war.
Asked whether his fiery statements could risk destabilizing regions of the world, endangering the US, Trump used his recent trip to Mexico City where he met with Mexico's president as an example of his ability to shift from bombast to diplomacy.
"I have good judgement," says Trump summing up why he is qualified to be the commander-in-chief.
Asked about preventing domestic terrorist attacks by Lauer, Clinton said, "I'm not going to promise something that I think most thinking Americans realize is going to be a huge challenge, and here's why. We've got to get an intelligence surge," stressing cooperation with Europe and strengthening US intelligence agencies.
"I don't think we're doing as much as we can," Clinton added.
Lauer started things off with Trump asking what experiences, personal or proefessional, in his life had prepared him to be commander-in-chief.
Trump mentioned his businesses involved in international trade, "dealing with China and so many of the countries that are just ripping this country."
Another military service member, identifying herself as a progressive, asked Clinton about her "extensive record with military intervention," pushing her to explain her "hawkish record," to which Clinton claimed Trump had the same positions she held in the lead up to interventions in Iraq and Libya.
When asked by another service member about the Veterans Affairs scandal, Clinton vowed not to "let the VA be privatized," adding, "I do think there is an agenda out there, supported by my opponent, to do just that."
A retired military veteran asked Clinton how she could be trusted after she "clearly corrupted our national security," to which she answered, "Let me try to make the distinctions that are important for me to answer your question," adding, "You and I know classified material is marked, there is a header, so that there is no dispute at all."
Clinton previously said she didn't know C was classified.
The first question goes on about e-mails.
"Steadiness" was the most important factor necessary in a commander-in-chief, Clinton told Lauer in the opening question. She also stressed "temperament and judgment."