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Title: Rand Paul Reluctantly Defends Trump from Hewitt’s ‘Gotcha’ Questions
Source:
Mediaite
URL Source: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rand-pau ... from-hewitts-gotcha-questions/
Published: Sep 4, 2015
Author: Matt Wilstein
Post Date: 2015-09-04 20:40:47 by Hondo68
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Keywords: None
Views: 2418
Comments: 33
“I’m not big on defending Donald Trump by any means and I’ve been one of his fiercest critics,” Rand Paul told host Michael Smerconish on his SiriusXM radio show Friday morning. But all that being said, the candidate still proceeded to take Trump’s side on the question of whether Hugh Hewitt was guilty of asking “gotcha” questions about the Quds Force during his interview with the GOP frontrunner last night. Paul said he too sometimes has trouble hearing the difference between “Quds” and “Kurds” and gave Trump the benefit of the doubt on that confusion. “And I also thinking that running through a list every different Arab name and asking people to respond to them is a little bit of a game of ‘gotcha,'” Paul added. But at the same time, he said that knowing the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah is an important attribute for the next president of the United States. When Hewitt asked Trump if he thought a question along those lines also qualified as a “gotcha,” Trump replied, “Yes, I do. I totally do. I think it’s ridiculous.” RELATED: Carly Fiorina Tackles Quds Force ‘Gotcha’ Question that Stumped Trump “Like I say, I’m not into defending Donald Trump and you find it often,” Paul said. “But I think some interviewers do like to play this game.” During a phone appearance on Morning Joe Friday, Trump dismissed Hewitt, who will be one of the moderators at this month’s GOP debate on CNN, as nothing more than a “third-rate radio announcer.” Listen to audio below, via The Michael Smerconish Program: Poster Comment: In response to Rand Paul's criticism in the Fox debate, Donald Trump has sworn an oath of allegiance to Mitch McConnell, the Republican Party, Sheldon Adelson, the Koch Brothers, and Jeb!. He stands with Rand, just another damn Republican/Democrat. 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 11.
#3. To: hondo68, Bob Celeste, Fred Mertz, redleghunter (#0)
(Edited)
He was asked some simple questions about prominent people and organizations in a region that is still vital to our national interests ...and he stumbled and ' attacked the questioner for asking him 'gotcha questions' . Any other candidate would take a hit for that ,but I guess Trump is the exception. What is most amazing to me is that he willingly admitted that he was unschooled on basic knowledge of the region BUT if we elect him ,he'd make it a point to learn the details AFTER he's elected .Chuck Todd asked him who his foreign policy advisor was . Trump said he watches "all the shows " . Palin got destroyed over similar answers . His foreign policy experience is negotiating building high rises and being the sponsor of the Miss Universe contest . Trump basically said he did not need to know the details because he would find a General MacArthur to handle the details. That would be the same General who was instrumental in creating the modern state of Japan . Trump recently criticized the detail of the arrangement that MacArthur hashed out in a treaty saying :"You know, we have an agreement with Japan where if somebody attacks Japan we have to come to their rescue. But if we get attacked Japan doesn't have to help us. Do you think that's a good deal?" When Hewitt pressed him for details ,asking Trump what he would do if China sunk a Japanese ship ,Trump was non-committal . We currently have a POTUS that our allies cannot trust to live up to our commitments . We may be selecting another one who is even less willing to live up to our treaty obligations . He'd better get used to this type of questioning . He was once a somewhat interesting side show . But now that he is a serious candidate ,we have a right to know the details of his plans ,who's his advisors ,and most importantly ,his basic understanding of all the issues important to the country .
Hewitt was showing off. I bet he got all the pronunciations right, too. Next time, Trump should echo Reagan and say, "What's important is that they know who I am."
Qassem Suleimani is a prominent Iranian leader ,and Iran's leading terrorist , who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers. He flooded Iraq with copper tipped EFPs which killed and wounded scores of Americans . http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/07/14/iran-linked- to-deaths-of-500-us-troops-in-iraq-afghanistan/30131097/ He is the one most responsible for exporting the Iranian Revolution to not only Iran's neighbors ,but around the world .There were special travel bans on him under the sanctions . "Is he the gentleman that was going back and forth with Russia and meeting with Putin?" No Mr Trump ,Suleimani is not a gentleman . He is a thug who should be instantly recognized by everyone who thinks they should be CIC. They should also instantly know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and Zawahiri, and al- Julani, and al-Baghdadi; and know which organizations they head . Trump made it sound like they are insignificant leaders who come and go. "I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone. "Hassan Nasrallah has been head of Hezzbollah for over a decade .
WSJ: I knew them all except one (which I guessed correctly). And I'm not really a quiz kid on all these factions in the Mideast, maybe a little better than average at who's who in Sandland. I'd bet redleghunter would know them all. I don't think that it counts against Trump that he couldn't answer all of these questions correctly. The problem is that he couldn't seem to answer even one question correctly and discuss anything in the Mideast in any depth. It's a bit like having an opinion, positive or negative, on the Supreme Court but not being able to actually name a single justice on the Court.
The only one I would give Trump a pass on was al-Julani because the news tends to lump the Nusra front in with the Islamic State (and as you know ;Trump watches all the shows ) . Did you listen to Hewitt's interview with Carly Fiorina ? She nailed it as opposed to Trump who showed a distinct lack of interest in anything but the quality of the wall he's going to build.
#12. To: tomder55 (#11)
Fiorina has hit the books, apparently determined to be taken more seriously than Palin was. Palin wasn't too bad overall but, after McStain lost, she just stopped studying and trying to present herself and her ideas better. It's a shame, she had some real potential. Now she hosts a show on a marginal outdoorsy channel (where she did shoot a honking huge feral boar while in Texas). In fairness, the other candidates should be asked these same questions. I know Perry is also determined not to be caught looking uninformed again and I think he'd do pretty well. Walker was too casual about foreign policy knowledge early on, suggesting he could catch up with briefings and lectures by listening to podcasts on his phone while jogging or something. Miz Lindsey would knock these questions out of the park because she really does know a lot of foreign policy info, probably more than the Stain, for instance. Rubio is no slouch at knowing all the main actors in foreign policy, he'd perform well at such questions. Kasich hasn't said anything very impressive yet that demonstrates any knowledge or real interest in foreign policy. Carson seems to think he just needs to find the right SoS and the right general and that's his entire foreign policy which seems just a little weak to me. Rand Paul would do okay at foreign policy quizzes but probably not better than Rubio, maybe about like Walker or Bush in general knowledge. So before Trump is dismissed over this dustup with smarty-pants Hugh Hewitt (you know he's an asshole with a name like that!), maybe we should have all the other candidates answer some similar questions. Or give them all a pre-debate quiz on foreign policy knowledge, say 100 questions relating to Russia, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Japan, Korea(s). Taking a foreign policy knowledge test would probably be pretty informative, maybe more than exhibiting debating skills which don't tell us much about how a president would govern since presidents give orders. They don't actually sit around conducting debates with their cabinet members to determine policy. They mostly just give orders to their subordinates, by suggestion in person to a cabinet member, and by executive memo (formally suggesting a policy to a cabinet member and authorizing it), or by direct executive order (requiring cabinet members to implement particular policies or resign from the cabinet). Sure, I'd like to see a test. Might be very informative.
I see that Weekly Standard noticed the same thing that you did about Fiorina's performance compared to Trump's in a Hewitt interview: WS also pointed out that Trump was asked specifically about Suleimani at the first debate. But Trump still hasn't bothered out finding out any info about this top Iranian general who has been at the top of every Iranian gambit in the Mideast for decades. When Donald Trump botched a question Thursday about General Qassem Suleimani, head of Iran’s Quds Force, it wasn’t the first time. He did the same thing last month during the Fox News debate, but his answer was largely overlooked in the post-debate hysteria over Trump’s answers to questions on a third party candidacy and his treatment of women. Bret Baier asked Trump about Suleimani and offered the candidate a helpful tutorial in the introduction. “Candidates, you may not have seen the late developing news today our Fox Pentagon team broke earlier this evening about a top Iranian general traveling to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Baier said. “His name is General Qassem Soleimani. He's blamed for hundreds of U.S. troops death in Iraq and Afghanistan. His trip to Russia appears to directly violate U.N. Security Council resolutions to confine him to Iran. So, Mr. Trump, if you were president, how would you respond to this?” “I would be so different from what you have right now. Like, the polar opposite,” Trump said, before setting off in several different directions at the same time. “We have a president who doesn't have a clue. I would say he's incompetent, but I don't want to do that because that's not nice. But if you look at the deals we make, whether it's the nuclear deal with 24 hour periods—and by the way, before you get to the 24 hours, you have to go through a system. You look at Sergeant Bergdahl, we get Bergdahl, a traitor, and they get five of the big, great killers leaders that they want. We have people in Washington that don't know what they're doing. Now, with Iran, we're making a deal, you would say, we want him. We want out our prisoners. We want all these things, and we don't get anything. We're giving them $150 billion dollars plus, they are going to be—I'll tell you what, if Iran was a stock, you folks should go out and buy it right now because you'll quadruple—this, what's happening in Iran, is a disgrace, and it's going to lead to destruction in large portions of the world.” In his Thursday interview with Hewitt, Trump asked for some help before attempting an answer. Here is that exchange: HH: Are you familiar with General Soleimani? DT: Yes, but go ahead, give me a little, go ahead, tell me. HH: He runs the Quds Forces. DT: Yes, okay, right. HH: Do you expect his behavior… DT: The Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated by … HH: No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Forces. DT: Yes, yes. HH: …is the bad guys. DT: Right. HH: Do you expect his behavior to change as a result… DT: Oh, I thought you said Kurds, Kurds. HH: No, Quds. DT: Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you said Kurds, because I think the Kurds have been poorly treated by us, Hugh. Go ahead.
So you prefer having Ms. Fiorina deal with the terrorists rather than Trump? I mean, she knows their names.
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#5. To: tomder55 (#3)
"He was asked some simple questions about prominent people and organizations in a region that is still vital to our national interests"
#6. To: misterwhite (#5)
(Edited)
Hewitt was showing off. I bet he got all the pronunciations right, too.
#7. To: tomder55, misterwhite, redleghunter (#6)
(Edited)
Can You Trump Donald Trump on Foreign Policy?
Donald Trump stumbled on Middle East foreign-policy questions in a radio interview. Can you answer questions on the subjects he avoided?
#11. To: TooConservative, mister white, redleghunter (#7)
(Edited)
Replies to Comment # 11. Did you listen to Hewitt's interview with Carly Fiorina ? She nailed it as opposed to Trump who showed a distinct lack of interest in anything but the quality of the wall he's going to build.
#16. To: tomder55, misterwhite (#11)
Trump Confuses Iran's Quds Forces and Kurds Fighting ISIS (Updated)
Accuses radio host of "gotcha questions."
7:15 PM, Sep 3, 2015 • By MICHAEL WARREN
#23. To: tomder55 (#11)
"Did you listen to Hewitt's interview with Carly Fiorina ? She nailed it as opposed to Trump who showed a distinct lack of interest in anything but the quality of the wall he's going to build."
End Trace Mode for Comment # 11.
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