Donald Trump says his Isis comments were ‘sarcastic’

Donald Trump has walked back on his claim that Barack Obama founded Islamic State (Isis), tweeting on Friday morning that he was only being sarcastic.

Focusing on CNN’s reports on his original comments, the Republican candidate wrote: “Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) ‘the founder’ of ISIS, & MVP. THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?”

On Thursday, Mr Trump had refused to take the opportunity to reframe his remark to mean that Mr Obama had created the context for Islamic State’s growth.

Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt told him: “I know what you meant - you meant that he created the vacuum, he lost the peace.”

Trump disagreed: “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,” he added, referring to his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Mr Trump did acknowledge that the root of his argument was that if Mr Obama “had done things properly, you wouldn’t have had Isis”, but he then repeated: “Therefore, he was the founder of Isis.”

Mr Trump first claimed Mr Obama was “the founder of Isis” on Wednesday night at a rally in Sunrise, Florida.

“Isis is honoring president Obama,” Mr Trump said. “He is the founder of Isis. He founded Isis. And I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.”

On Thursday night at a rally in Florida, he repeated the claim, explaining that if the president had maintained a small force in Iraq, he could have prevented the militant group’s rise.

Ms Clinton has attacked Mr Trump for the remarks, writing on Twitter: “It can be difficult to muster outrage as frequently as Donald Trump should cause it, but his smear against president Obama requires it.

“No, Barack Obama is not the founder of Isis. Anyone willing to sink so low, so often should never be allowed to serve as our commander-in-chief.”

Gun comments

The latest controversy comes after Mr Trump faced a backlash after hinting that gun rights supporters might attack Ms Clinton, something that seemed to cause genuine shock in a country that has grown used to Mr Trump pushing the boundaries of appropriate political discourse.

Since July’s Republican convention, Ms Clinton has taken a firm lead in the polls, as Mr Trump has struggled from controversy to controversy, pursuing a feud with the Muslim family of a dead US army captain and suggesting Russia should publish Ms Clinton’s emails which it had hacked.

The Democratic candidate is 6.3 points ahead in the race for the White House in the latest polling average compiled by Real Clear Politics

Guardian service