It was 12:18 p.m. ET when President Obama began his remarks after meeting with his National Security Council about efforts to combat ISIS. Four minutes later, his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, began speaking at a union hall in Pittsburgh.
And what they had to say about Donald Trump and his reaction to the attack in Orlando was remarkably similar. The points they made were so similar, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest about the overlap.
“I don’t think you should be particularly surprised that the president’s comments and views on this topic are similar to the views and principles that are articulated by the woman who served as his secretary of state during his first term in office,” Earnest said, insisting there was no coordination.
Coordinated or not, the reality is, Clinton is running to replace Obama, and the president wants her to get the job. They are united in their view that Trump would be dangerous for the country. So, yesterday’s unified front is likely only the beginning.
Here are seven times, Clinton and Obama seemed to be reading from the same script:
Trump, speaking in Atlanta today, responded to Obama’s speech, saying it was long — and that by the end of it, “nobody knew what the hell he was talking about.”
Trump said the president’s speech was all about justifying why he wouldn’t use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism.” Clinton used a similar phrase “radical Islamism,” but Trump implied that wasn’t good enough.
“Unless you’re willing to discuss and talk about the real nature of the problem and the name of the problem,” Trump said, “radical Islamic terrorism, you’re never going to solve the problem.”
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