The Republican Party candidate for the U.S. presidency, Donald Trump, now says his controversial description of President Barack Obama as the founder of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group was “sarcasm.”
Trump said in a tweet on August 12 criticizing CNN's coverage of his remark that the international television network reported his claim "so seriously." He added,: "They don’t get sarcasm?"
At a rally on August 10, Trump said that Obama "is the founder of ISIS," using one acronym for the group. He repeated the charge in two interviews on August 11.
Asked by a conservative radio host whether he meant that Obama had created the conditions that allowed IS to thrive, Trump answered, "No, I meant that he's the founder of ISIS. I do."
Trump has also said previously that both Obama and the Democratic Party candidate for the presidency, Hillary Clinton, are the Islamic State group’s “most valuable players.”
A spokesman for Clinton responded to the repeated charges by saying that Trump is "trash-talking" the United States and “echoing the talking points” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.