WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is rejecting Hillary Clinton’s assertion that Donald Trump and other GOP leaders are encouraging terrorists by asserting the U.S. is at war with Islam.
Pence told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Monday that it’s “weak and feckless” foreign policy from Democrats that “emboldens” Islamic State fighters.
The Indiana governor told Limbaugh during a phone interview that the U.S. is indeed “at war with the ISIS caliphate,” using an acronym for the Islamic State group. He said Democrats won’t say so because of “political correctness.”
Pence also repeated a common Republican claim that the Islamic State grew because President Barack Obama withdrew ground forces from Iraq.
Obama did withdraw troops, but the withdrawal process was initiated by President George W. Bush’s administration.
