http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278443-trump-rips-clintons-bad-judgmentMay 02, 2016, 06:07 pm
Trump rips Clinton's 'bad judgment'
By Jesse Byrnes
Getty Images
Donald Trump criticized Hillary Clinton’s judgment on Monday, foreshadowing an attack line that he could use in a general election showdown.
Trump argued that while suggesting Clinton isn't qualified to be president is a "big stretch," it's fair to say the former secretary of State “suffers from bad judgment.”
“Emails, bad judgment. Iraq, voted yes, bad judgment. Libya, bad judgment. All bad judgment," the GOP presidential front-runner said during a rally in Carmel, Ind., on the eve of the state's primaries.
The attack is drawn from criticism offered by Clinton's Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, who has criticized Clinton’s judgment and argued the former secretary of State was not qualified to be president. Sanders eventually backtracked on the latter remarks.
Trump signaled last week that he would be using Sanders’s attack lines on Clinton, saying during a television interview, “When he said 'bad judgment' I said, 'sound bite!’ ”
“He said she suffers from bad judgment,” Trump said Monday, referring to Sanders. “It's true.”
Clinton and Trump are both now favored to win their party’s presidential nominations.
Trump leads polls in Indiana, where a win for Cruz is crucial to keep his hopes of a contested Republican National Convention alive.
On Monday, Trump appeared to be just as or even more focused on Clinton than he was on Cruz or GOP rival John Kasich.
“It's going to be so easy; it's going to be so great,” Trump said, adding “crooked Hillary, bad judgment” and mentioning her use of a private email server as secretary of State.
“It's also criminal, by the way, and a lot of bad things should happen, but we'll find out, we'll find out,” he said. “It's a very criminal act, lot of people have suffered greatly for doing much less.”
The businessman also suggested that as president he'd put a sweeping ban on military officials in his administration from answering questions publicly on television.
“I don't want our generals on television,” Trump said.
“I will prohibit them — I don't want them saying things like, 'Our nation has never been so ill-prepared,’” he continued, adding generally, “I don't want them going on television.”
“You think Gen. George Patton or Gen. Douglas MacArthur, you think they'd be on television saying about how weak we are?” Trump asked.
“Number one, they wouldn't be on television because they'd be knocking the hell out of the enemy, they wouldn't have time,” he said.
