Hillary Clinton on Thursday blasted her likely general election rival Donald Trump as a threat to US democracy and declared him unqualified to be president, unleashing some of her toughest criticism yet of the Republican presumptive nominee.
"The threat that Donald Trump poses is so dramatic to our country, to our democracy and our economy," the former secretary of state told CNN in an interview.
"I know how hard this job is, and I know that we need steadiness as well as strength and smarts in it," she added. "And I have concluded he is not qualified to be president of the United States."
The statement marks a hardening of her position on Trump.
On May 3, Clinton declined to answer directly when asked by MSNBC whether Trump was qualified to be commander in chief, although Clinton said the New York billionaire "has given no indication he understands the gravity of the responsibilities" that go with the job.
Clinton's criticism Thursday was more biting, and left no doubt that the gloves are off, perhaps for the duration of the contest that culminates with the November 8 election.
She pointed to Trump's recent criticism of top officials of US ally Britain; his stated willingness to meet with North Korea's reclusive dictator; his assessment that NATO is "obsolete"; and his suggestion of opening the door to more countries, such as Japan or South Korea, having nuclear weapons.
Such positions are "dangerous," Clinton said, adding that the totality of Trump's alarming statements since he launched his presidential campaign, including calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, amounts to a worrying "pattern."
"I think if you go through many of his irresponsible, reckless, dangerous comments, it's not just somebody saying something off the cuff," Clinton said.
Trump's antagonistic tone toward Muslims would make it far harder for Washington to work with Middle Eastern governments in fighting extremism, she said.
"We have seen how Donald Trump is being used to essentially be a recruiter for more people to join the cause of terrorism," Clinton said.
"When you run for president of the United States, the entire world is listening and watching."
'Insurmountable lead'
Clinton's pugnacity came as she all but declared victory in her nomination battle with Bernie Sanders.
"I will be the nominee for my party. That is already done," she said.
"In fact, there's no way that I won't be."
Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, insists he is still locked in a fierce battle for the nomination and has vowed to take the race all the way to June 7, when California, the most populous state in the union, holds its primary.
But Clinton essentially said it was time for Sanders to accept the inevitability of her winning the nomination.
"I'm three million votes ahead of him and I have an insurmountable lead in pledged delegates," she said.
With only six US states left to vote, Clinton's delegate lead, including so-called super-delegates, is formidable. She has 2,297 delegates compared to Sanders's 1,527, according to a CNN tally. A candidate needs 2,383 delegates to be declared the nominee.
It was perhaps Clinton's most forceful declaration to date that the race is basically over, as she turns her focus on Trump and their general election showdown.
She also expressed confidence that Sanders will eventually offer his support -- as she did for then-senator Barack Obama during their intense 2008 nomination battle -- once the Democratic race comes to a halt.
"I have every confidence we're going to be unified," Clinton said, but Sanders "has to do his part to unify."
The Sanders campaign said Clinton was jumping the gun, pointing to the self-declared democratic socialist's recent wins in Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon.
"And with almost every national and state poll showing Senator Sanders doing much, much better than Secretary Clinton against Donald Trump, it is clear that millions of Americans have growing doubts about the Clinton campaign," Sanders's spokesman Michael Briggs said in a statement.
Trump has yet to respond publicly to Clinton's broadside. But senior adviser Stephen Miller warned that Trump will be turning up the heat during the campaign.
"I think we're definitely going to be a lot more aggressive, on every kind of attack, because Hillary Clinton would be an extraordinarily dangerous person to put in the White House," Miller told CNN.
AFP
Fri May 20 2016
Clinton's criticism Thursday was more biting, and left no doubt that the gloves are off.
PM mahu persediaan mantap dilakukan menjelang kepengerusian ASEAN 2025
Perdana Menteri berkata Malaysia perlu menjadi peneraju hebat dengan menyusun pelbagai program yang benar-benar memberi kesan mendalam kepada komuniti ASEAN secara keseluruhannya.
PM Anwar ulangi komitmen Malaysia jayakan Agenda 2030 untuk pembangunan mampan
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hari ini mengulangi komitmen Malaysia dalam menjayakan Agenda 2030 untuk pembangunan mampan seperti yang dimeterai bersama 192 negara lain pada 2015.
HUMS dijangka siap Dis 2025, beroperasi pada Jan 2026 - Zambry
HUSM dibina dengan kapasiti 400 katil, 25 bilik pembedahan, 40 katil rawatan intensif atau rapi serta 145 buah klinik pakar.
Seorang ahli GISB akan dituduh di Mahkamah Majistret Putrajaya esok
Individu terbabit akan didakwa di bawah Seksyen 506 Kanun Keseksaan.
Tetingkap Tunggal Nasional mudahkan operasi perdagangan - Tengku Zafrul
Inisiatif Tetingkap Tunggal Nasional (National Single Window) yang bakal diharmonikan bersama sistem kastam China akan memudahkan operasi perniagaan dan perdagangan antara Malaysia-China.
'Abang Bas' bebas selepas bayar ikat jamin RM40,000
'Abang Bas' yang ditahan di Pusat Koreksional, Muar, sejak Selasa lalu kerana gagal membayar ikat jamin keseluruhan berjumlah RM40,000 dibebaskan, selepas membayar semua bayaran.
10 Berita Pilihan - (17 September 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
AWANI Ringkas: PN tolak draf MoU kerana ada niat tersirat - Muhyiddin
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Ahmad Zahid gesa pemain industri TVET sokong ekosistem industri halal
Ahmad Zahid berkata kewujudan lebih ramai bakat dan pakar dalam sektor halal akan mengukuhkan lagi peranan Malaysia sebagai peneraju global dalam industri.
#AWANIRingkas 17 September 2024 | 9 PM
Berikut merupakan rangkuman berita setakat 9 malam, 17 September 2024
1️⃣ PN tolak draf MoU kerana ada niat tersirat - Muhyiddin
2️⃣ Banjir: cuti anggota, pegawai bomba Kedah dibekukan
3️⃣ 'Abang bas' bebas selepas bayar ikat jamin RM40,000
#awaniringkas
1️⃣ PN tolak draf MoU kerana ada niat tersirat - Muhyiddin
2️⃣ Banjir: cuti anggota, pegawai bomba Kedah dibekukan
3️⃣ 'Abang bas' bebas selepas bayar ikat jamin RM40,000
#awaniringkas
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Cubaan bunuh: Trump ucap terima kasih kepada perkhidmatan rahsia pastikannya "selamat"
Trump mengucapkan terima kasih kepada semua pihak atas keprihatinan mereka terhadap cubaan bunuh yang menimpanya pada Ahad di Florida.
FBI siasat "cubaan bunuh" selepas insiden tembakan berhampiran Trump
Insiden tembakan berhampiran bekas Presiden Amerika Syarikat Donald Trump pada Ahad disiasat sebagai "yang kelihatan seperti cubaan bunuh".
Biden lega Trump tidak cedera selepas cubaan bunuh
Presiden Amerika Joe Biden lahirkan rasa lega kerana bekas presiden Donald Trump tidak cedera berikutan cubaan membunuh.
Trump selamat cubaan bunuh di Florida
Pegawai penguat kuasa undang-undang menyatakan, penembak bersembunyi di kawasan semak berhampiran sempadan padang golf.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Trump tidak akan sertai satu lagi debat presiden bersama Harris
Trump mendakwa beliau memenangi debat yang dihoskan oleh ABC News di Philadelphia pada malam Selasa.
Debat Presiden AS tarik 57.5 juta penonton TV - Data Nielsen
Debat malam Selasa itu merupakan kali pertama calon-calon dalam Pilihan Raya Presiden 5 November bertemu secara bersemuka.
Debat calon presiden: Jika Harris menang, Israel tidak akan wujud dua tahun lagi - Trump
Bekas presiden AS itu berkata, Harris "membenci Israel" dan tidak menyokong Perdana Menteri Israel Benjamin Netanyahu.
Pilihan Raya Presiden AS: Debat pertama dengan Trump, Harris sukar diduga
Perdebatan itu adalah yang pertama antara Trump dan Harris, walaupun Trump pada Jun lalu pernah berdebat dengan Presiden AS, Joe Biden.