Journalist Carl Bernstein called Donald Trump's post-Orlando national security speech "terribly, terribly effective" in a television interview Monday.
During an appearance on CNN's "Newsroom," Bernstein — best known for his work with Bob Woodward on uncovering the Watergate scandal — said Trump is turning a corner in his presidential campaign.
"First, I thought Trump was predictably abhorrent and terribly, terribly effective in a way he hasn't been until now," Bernstein said,
reports The Hill.
"His speech will appeal to independents, even some Democrats and certainly Republicans because Hillary Clinton, Obama and the Democrats are very late to acknowledge by name that there is a real threat of Islamic terrorism in this country and all over the world and they have been very reluctant to use the word Islamic terror and it's coming back to haunt them."
Trump gave a terrorism-focused speech Monday in New Hampshire one day after a terror attack in Orlando killed 49 people.
Bernstein said Hillary Clinton, the leading Democrat in the race for president, is not being effective enough when it comes to outlining the threat America faces from radical Islam.
"The impression Trump gave today with some effectiveness, despite his almost neo-fascist rhetoric is that the Democrats have not done that," Bernstein said.
Bernstein called Trump a "neo-fascist" in March, saying the real estate mogul is tapping into "the real anger and grievances that many Americans feel."
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