Trump targets ‘jihadists’ in midterm pitch

Washington, Aug 11 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) US President Donald Trump sought to frame the coming US midterm elections as a choice between his policies and what he called the radicalism of Democratic candidates, asserting that “jihadists” and communists were being elected across the country.

Asked what recommendations he had for Republicans heading into the elections, Trump said the opposition’s candidates would make it easier for his party to draw a sharp political contrast.

“Well, the one thing is we have jihadists being elected all over the place,” Trump said during an interaction with reporters at the White House.

“We have this — whether it’s communism, jihadism,” he said.

Trump did not identify any candidate by name or specify which elections he was referring to. He said a friend had encouraged him to use the term “jihadist” to describe what was happening politically.

“A friend of mine called up and said, you know, really, you should use the word jihadist because that’s what’s happening,” Trump said.

The president argued that voters did not want candidates he characterised as extreme taking control of the government.

“People don’t want to have radical lunatics involved in running our country, and that’s what we have,” he said.

Trump accused unnamed Democratic candidates of wanting to dismantle core American institutions, including the Supreme Court, the presidency and the Senate.

“When you look at the radicalism and the craziness of the candidates and the stupidity of what they’re suggesting, let’s get rid of the Supreme Court, let’s get rid of the presidency, let’s get rid of the Senate,” he said.

Trump also accused his political opponents of seeking to defund the police and weaken the US military.

“They want to defund our police, they want to terminate our military, no military, we don’t want any military in our country,” he said.

He offered no names or supporting details for those allegations during the exchange.

Trump then turned to politicians who had immigrated to the United States, saying some had come from unsuccessful countries and were now trying to tell Americans how to govern.

“They come from other failed countries and they come here and they tell us how to run our country,” he said.

Trump specifically mentioned Somalia as an example, but did not name any Somali-born officeholder or candidate.

“They come from, let’s say, as an example, Somalia,” he said. “They come in and then they tell us how to — how our Constitution, how our Declaration of Independence, how it works.”

Trump predicted that candidates identified with such positions would begin the midterm campaign at a disadvantage. He acknowledged, however, that his assessment could be wrong.

“I think that they start off — now, I may be wrong, but, you know, they start off with a big disadvantage,” Trump said.

The US midterm elections determine control of the House of Representatives and the Senate midway through a president’s four-year term. They also include contests for state and local offices across the country.

The elections are commonly viewed as a referendum on the sitting president and his party. Trump’s remarks indicated that immigration, national identity, policing and the military would feature prominently in his argument to voters.

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