# Trump calls Barack Obama the "founder of ISIS." **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 11, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423 "2016-08-11T07:00:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/21 "2016-08-11T13:44:47Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > What does Trump think about white supremacists and abortion clinic bombers? Not all terrorists are Brown or Muslim. He’s doesn’t know anything about that, but he sure likes to retweet their material. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/22 "2016-08-11T13:46:05Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Broke Donny can’t buy airtime so he has to resort to tactics which make his own party abandon him and put a definite, insurmountable ceiling on his possible support. > > [Vox has an interesting article on the death spiral Broke Donny is in.](http://www.vox.com/2016/8/9/12404704/trump-clinton-polls-today) My first thought on reading this: > [@VOX](#): > > New polls are coming in with increasingly dismal news for the GOP nominee. He now trails Clinton by 8.9 points in a head-to-head national matchup, _on average_. has to be - hold crap is that ALL? Forty percent of Americans are still willing to vote for this guy? _backs slowly away_ ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/23 "2016-08-11T14:51:37Z")
I found the [following exchange instructive](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/11/donald-trumps-obama-founded-isis-comment-exemplifies-why-his-campaign-is-on-the-brink-of-doom/): > [@](#): > > HEWITT: Last night you said that the president was the founder of ISIS. I know what you meant, you meant that he created the vacuum, he lost the peace. > > TRUMP: No, I meant that he’s the founder of ISIS, I do. He was the most valuable player. I gave him the most valuable player award. I give her too, by the way. > > HEWITT: But he’s not sympathetic to them. He hates them; he’s trying to kill them. > > TRUMP: He was the found, his – the way he got out of Iraq was the founding of ISIS. > > HEWITT: By using the term “founder,” they’re hitting you on this again. Mistake? > > TRUMP: No, it’s no mistake. Everyone’s liking it. I think they’re liking it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/24 "2016-08-11T14:56:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t think this can be said loudly or strongly enough. > > “Obama founded ISIS” is right in the same vein as the suggestion that Hillary Clinton should be murdered; it is a characterization of his political opponents as literal physical threats. Trump is telling people that the likes of Clinton and OBama are not merely political rivals, but are actually enemies of the United States who should be killed. And you know what? **Trump has stopped falling in the polls.** The polls have stabilized, and his chances have gotten just a little bit better since they hit a new low at the beginning of the week. His gaffes about the Khan family and such hurt him badly, but outright calls for violence are NOT hurting him. > > Trump is normalizing fascism. He is saying and doing things that not long ago would have had him polling behind the third parties. It is impossible to imagine Ronald Reagan or Jimmy Carter saying such things in 1980 and NOT losing 25 points in the next poll. What’s happening is indescribably awful. In general I agree with your sentiments and if the US were saner, Trump would be removed from the ballot. But I question whether his fall in the polls is truly over as I don’t know if the polls have captured the post-2nd amendment gaffe and they certainly have not captured the ISIS gaffe. One’s man’s gaffe is another man’s red meat but I’m optimistic that he will fall down a bit based on those two. The Khan dip was real and there has been a bit of a rebound from that, I think in general major gaffes will depress the poll by X points and then over time the poll rebounds but always \ **Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/25 "2016-08-11T15:20:25Z") > [@BobLibDem](#): > > In general I agree with your sentiments and if the US were saner, Trump would be removed from the ballot. But I question whether his fall in the polls is truly over as I don’t know if the polls have captured the post-2nd amendment gaffe and they certainly have not captured the ISIS gaffe. One’s man’s gaffe is another man’s red meat but I’m optimistic that he will fall down a bit based on those two. The Khan dip was real and there has been a bit of a rebound from that, I think in general major gaffes will depress the poll by X points and then over time the poll rebounds but always \ **Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/26 "2016-08-11T15:24:41Z") > [@BobLibDem](#): > > The problem isn’t Trump- it’s the Trump supporters. If his crowds had even modest intelligence and a shred of decency, Trump would spout his venom and soon see the backs of the crowd as they head for the exits. But his followers are not decent people. They are the scum of the earth, disgusting little bigots who don’t want to share the nation with people who don’t look like them, speak like them, or pray like them. Trump won the nomination by appealing to the lowest form of humanity, but a form that became energized and became a plurality of a morally bankrupt party. If his supporters would not snap up the red meat like a pack of rabid hyenas every time Trump hurls it, then perhaps he would change his tactics. But they won’t stop and neither will he. This is true, but very depressing. I thought having a smart and principled President like Obama would gradually win over the angry voters and allow them to turn against the Republican Party, that was never going to help them. Well, they have turned against the Republicans, but not in a good way. I honestly don’t get why so many people are so stupid and angry. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/27 "2016-08-11T15:25:56Z")
Yeah, going after a sitting president with a 52% approval rating seems like a cromulent campaign tactic. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/28 "2016-08-11T15:32:16Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I found the [following exchange instructive](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/11/donald-trumps-obama-founded-isis-comment-exemplifies-why-his-campaign-is-on-the-brink-of-doom/): Good Lord. He’s gone full-on tinfoil hat. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/29 "2016-08-11T15:33:36Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Yeah, going after a sitting president with a 52% approval rating seems like a cromulent campaign tactic. It’s working, there’s no way that President Obama will get re-elected now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/30 "2016-08-11T15:35:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Good Lord. He’s gone full-on tinfoil hat. He’s been wearing that accessory since the birth certificate nonsense. Now he’s just added pipe cleaner antennae. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/31 "2016-08-11T15:37:00Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > This is true, but very depressing. I thought having a smart and principled President like Obama would gradually win over the angry voters and allow them to turn against the Republican Party, that was never going to help them. Well, they have turned against the Republicans, but not in a good way. I honestly don’t get why so many people are so stupid and angry. Because, as many polls and election ballots have demonstrated over and over, that 1/4 to 1/3 of the voting electorate are bigots (i.e. stupid and angry). Perhaps there’s a danger in publicly stating this because it will lead to a further solidification of those who fall in that camp. Perhaps pointing out those that are demonstrably stupid and angry will contribute to an even more polarized society. But if we continue to skirt the issue and pretend it’s just some sort of anomaly limited to this elections cycle because of one particular candidate, then we’ll continue to give the bigots and their ideology the veneer of legitimacy. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/32 "2016-08-11T15:40:56Z")
> [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > I don’t think that you can credibly call this a “gaffe” - Trump isn’t misspeaking, he is making deliberate statements. He is insinuating that Obama is some sort of Muslim sleeper agent terrorist sympathizer - again. Trump is _insinuating_ nothing. He is directly stating that Obama created ISIS in order to “get out of Iraq”. Trump is being very explicit here, and has stated that Obama created ISIS. Full stop. Not metaphorically, he’s not making an insinuation, he’s not saying that Obama created the conditions for ISIS to flourish. Trump is stating directly that Obama was a creator and founder of a terrorist enemy of the United States. Trump is just one step away from asserting that Obama is one of the Lizard people who are in league with the lunar mole-men, and is plotting to steal all of our women. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/33 "2016-08-11T15:41:21Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > This is true, but very depressing. I thought having a smart and principled President like Obama would gradually win over the angry voters and allow them to turn against the Republican Party, that was never going to help them. Well, they have turned against the Republicans, but not in a good way. I honestly don’t get why so many people are so stupid and angry. My read as an outsider is this: There is a considerable population who fits into a particular blue-collar demographic - not college educated, White, conservative, religious, works in manufacturing (or used to) - for which economic changes over the past couple of decades have been a disaster. They have seen their livelihood shrink. Their conservatism, religiosity, etc. made them a traditional part of the Republican party. Yet the Republican party could offer them nothing. Indeed, traditional right-wing doctrine held that opportunity was there if you worked for it, so if you were impoverished it was, at least in part, your own fault. You would think that this would make them natural fodder for the Democrats. However, the perception on their part is that the Democrats cared more for other people’s problems than for theirs. Worse, with Hillary as the candidate, it appears to them that the Democrats are the epitome of the ‘establishment’ dedicated to rewarding others (college educated, urban, etc.). This made them angry - that they were in a shitty situation, and no-one seemed to care about it. Worse, they live in a society of apparently enormous wealth and power, none of which has ‘trickled down’ to them. So a candidate apparently willing to empathize with them, and peddling a bunch of easy answers (it is all the fault of foreigners stealing their jobs and trade deals) gets their allegiance. The fact that he’s a ranting narcissist and pathological liar, they appear willing to overlook. The basic message that they hear and like is ‘your crappy situation isn’t your fault. It’s the fault of others. I will deal with it.’ ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/34 "2016-08-11T15:48:12Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > This made them angry - that they were in a shitty situation, and no-one seemed to care about it. Worse, they live in a society of apparently enormous wealth and power, none of which has ‘trickled down’ to them. And so they will vote for someone who comes from an inherited position of wealth and power, who promises to “trickle down” a little bit of wealth to them. > [@Malthus](#): > > So a candidate apparently willing to empathize with them, and peddling a bunch of easy answers (it is all the fault of foreigners stealing their jobs and trade deals) gets their allegiance. The fact that he’s a ranting narcissist and pathological liar, they appear willing to overlook. The basic message that they hear and like is ‘your crappy situation isn’t your fault. It’s the fault of others. I will deal with it.’ And this is why these people are stupid. They’re being pandered to in most obvious ways, and are too dim to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/35 "2016-08-11T15:53:30Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > My read as an outsider is this: > > There is a considerable population who fits into a particular blue-collar demographic - not college educated, White, conservative, religious, works in manufacturing (or used to) - for which economic changes over the past couple of decades have been a disaster. They have seen their livelihood shrink. > > Their conservatism, religiosity, etc. made them a traditional part of the Republican party. Yet the Republican party could offer them nothing. Indeed, traditional right-wing doctrine held that opportunity was there if you worked for it, so if you were impoverished it was, at least in part, your own fault. > > You would think that this would make them natural fodder for the Democrats. However, the perception on their part is that the Democrats cared more for other people’s problems than for theirs. Worse, with Hillary as the candidate, it appears to them that the Democrats are the epitome of the ‘establishment’ dedicated to rewarding others (college educated, urban, etc.). > > This made them angry - that they were in a shitty situation, and no-one seemed to care about it. Worse, they live in a society of apparently enormous wealth and power, none of which has ‘trickled down’ to them. > > So a candidate apparently willing to empathize with them, and peddling a bunch of easy answers (it is all the fault of foreigners stealing their jobs and trade deals) gets their allegiance. The fact that he’s a ranting narcissist and pathological liar, they appear willing to overlook. The basic message that they hear and like is ‘your crappy situation isn’t your fault. It’s the fault of others. I will deal with it.’ This makes sense. But, as I said, it’s depressing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/36 "2016-08-11T16:20:55Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > In general I agree with your sentiments and if the US were saner, Trump would be removed from the ballot. But I question whether his fall in the polls is truly over as I don’t know if the polls have captured the post-2nd amendment gaffe and they certainly have not captured the ISIS gaffe. I am not convinced those were gaffes, especially the second one. Both comments disgust you. But you were never going to vote Trump anyway. Tey DO speak to the white working class people he appeals to, whose vote turnout level is maybe 55 percent and so where there is room to mobilize more votes. A lot fot hem - literally millions of people - believe, as facts, that Barack OBama is secretly a Muslim, and Hillary Clinton is a witch. Not a witch in the figurative sense of being a mean woman; a witch as in being a pagan who casts magic spells for nefarious reasons. I am not joking; you can look it up. The difference between the Khan fiasco and these things is that in attacking Khan, Trump was punching down at sympathetic people. Many people who could vote Trump saw him insult a “Gold Star” family and said “Asshole.” The fact that they’re Muslim matters, but to many that it matters to their status as having a son who died in the service of the United States supersedes that. People don’t like punching down, and it doesn’t match up with his narrative of fear. You can’t be scared of a dead guy and his grieving parents. When he tells his prospective followers that Barack Obama founded ISIS, he’s not coming up with an original idea. The idea that Barack Obama is literally an ally of ISI, al-Qaida, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other frightening groups is old news to frightened Republican-leaning voters; they believe that now, in the tens of millions. Go ahead and Google it; you’ll get hit after hit. When he says that, or that Hillary Clinton should be shot, he’s not punching down; they are immensely powerful people, more powerful than he is. It’s okay to punch up, and it follows his narrative; that you should be terribly scared and lash out against a cabal of elites. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/37 "2016-08-11T17:30:13Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > And this is why these people are stupid. They’re being pandered to in most obvious ways, and are too dim to see it. It’s not a matter of intelligence, it’s a matter of willingness. It takes effort to say “Here’s a fact that disagrees with my world view. Let’s revisit that world view and see if it requires modification.” While being intelligent might help you to make the right modifications, the basic process is one that even the most stupid people can do if they’re willing to. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/38 "2016-08-11T17:33:33Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Because, as many polls and election ballots have demonstrated over and over, that 1/4 to 1/3 of the voting electorate are bigots (i.e. stupid and angry). > > Perhaps there’s a danger in publicly stating this because it will lead to a further solidification of those who fall in that camp. Perhaps pointing out those that are demonstrably stupid and angry will contribute to an even more polarized society. But if we continue to skirt the issue and pretend it’s just some sort of anomaly limited to this elections cycle because of one particular candidate, then we’ll continue to give the bigots and their ideology the veneer of legitimacy. The problem is there’s not much that reasonable people can do about it, except to maintain an atmosphere where it’s unacceptable to hold these kinds of views. Eventually a lot of it will get bred out, but we’re talking decades if not centuries. And even then it will never completely disappear. ‘Other’ thinking is a hardwired, survival instinct. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/39 "2016-08-11T17:41:01Z")
Clearly what Trump meant was, “Obama is the \*finder \*of ISIS. He _found_ them.” You know, with the drones and all. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/40 "2016-08-11T17:45:56Z")
Is this “Founder of ISIS” meme that Trump is floating simply yet another sign that he is a Putin follower? Is Russia calling the shots on the Trump campaign? Interesting thoughts from this site: > [@](#): > > “It’s a conspiracy theory that some in [the Middle East] region believe, and a US presidential candidate just affirmed it,” Matt Duss, the president of the Foundation for Middle East peace, wrote to me. > > Nor is this just a conspiracy theory in the Middle East. “[Trump’s] line that Obama founded ISIS echoes exactly a myth propagated by Russian state-controlled media and bloggers,” Michael McFaul, a Stanford professor and former US ambassador to Russia, tweeted. Who exactly is Trump working for? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423.md?page=3)