Donald Trump has changed his tune on one of his most controversial comments yet.
On Wednesday, the Republican nominee gave a speech to voters in Florida, where he stated that President Barack Obama and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton founded ISIS.
“In many respects, you know, they honor President Obama,” Trump told the crowd, according to The New York Times. “He’s the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder. He founded ISIS.”
He added, “I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.”
When first asked about his comments, Trump stood by his claims and accused Obama of creating ISIS by taking American troops out of Iraq.
“He was the founder. His, the way he got out of Iraq was that that was the founding of ISIS, okay?” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday.
Now, on Friday, Trump claimed that he was actually just being sarcastic, and he blamed CNN for perpetuating this story.
“Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) ‘the founder’ of ISIS, & MVP. THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?” Trump tweeted.
Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) “the founder” of ISIS, & MVP. THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2016
How many times are Trump’s supporters going to let him get away with making outrageous comments, such as the claim that President Obama founded ISIS? Trump is usually defended by his supporters saying that he often misspeaks, since he is not a politician. The fact of the matter is that once Trump decided to run for president, he became a politician. It is now time for him to either start acting like more of a politician, or be held accountable for making these kinds of comments.