Trump: When I said we should go to war in Iraq, I ‘wasn’t a politician’
CHARLESTON, S.C.— Donald Trump was apparently for the Iraq War before he was against it.
The Republican presidential hopeful has made his opposition to the invasion of Iraq a major talking point of his campaign for the White House in recent days. But asked in a September 2002 interview with Howard Stern if he supported going to war in Iraq, Trump replied, “Yeah, I guess so.”
In a CNN town hall Thursday, Trump said he did not recall the interview, which was unearthed by BuzzFeed, but he admitted he “could have” said it. Still, Trump defended the remark, insisting he “wasn’t a politician” at the time and that it was “probably the first time” anyone had asked him the question.
“By the time the war started, I was against it,” Trump insisted. “And later, I was really against it.”
The muddled position emerged as Trump fended off criticism of his recent attacks against former President George W. Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq, which he has called “the worst decision in U.S. history.” At the CNN forum, a voter asked Trump if he regretted suggesting Bush had “lied” to the American public about the Iraq War during last Saturday’s GOP primary debate.
Donald Trump participates in a CNN town hall on Feb. 18 in Greenville, S.C. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)
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At first, Trump doubled down — insisting Bush had wrongly led the country into war. But when the voter — and later CNN’s Anderson Cooper — tried to pin Trump down on whether he actually believed the former president “lied,” Trump backed off. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know.”
The forum came just two days before South Carolina’s pivotal Republican primary and after a wild day on the campaign trail, which began with Trump trashing Pope Francis after the pontiff suggested the GOP frontrunner is “not a Christian” because of his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants and build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump had called the pope’s comments “disgraceful,” but at the CNN forum, he backed off ever so slightly, saying the pontiff’s comments had not been as harsh as he first believed.
“I don’t think this is a fight,” Trump said. “I think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media.”
He added that he liked Francis, describing him as a “wonderful guy” with great energy who didn’t have the full story before he spoke.
The forum wrapped on a surreal note, as Trump spoke at length about his love of fast food (“Kentucky Fried Chicken, not the worst thing in the world”) and mused about the sexual relationship between Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, who honeymooned at Trump’s home in Florida.
“Michael Jackson was actually a very good friend of mine,” Trump said. “He was an unbelievably talented guy. He lost his confidence. He lost tremendous confidence because of, honestly, bad, bad, bad surgery.”
