Nothing Donald Trump says is going to hurt him in the race for the presidential nomination "because it's actually his strategic imperative," Republican political consultant Mary Matalin told
Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
"The more that he's attacked by the mainstream press, the stronger he becomes," Matalin, who once worked for former Vice President Dick Cheney, told "The Steve Malzberg Show" in an interview.
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Referencing
Trump's comments earlier Wednesday that not only must the Islamic State be destroyed, "you have to take out their families" as well, Matalin said:
"While we're not used to the language that he uses, it is true that these recruits often [believe] that it's an honor to be martyred — and your family is literally paid when they're martyred.
"So, if the family suffered then, yeah, that's a tactic," she added. "I wouldn't have said it the way he said it, but it's truly a tactic."
Trump is also correct, Matalin said, about terrorists using family members and civilians as human shields.
"He's also right about how it's hard to avoid collateral damage when civilians are being used as not only shields, but the civilians themselves are being tortured to do what the terrorists want, to turn over their villages," she said. "Their sons and daughters are being killed and raped.
"This is not a conventional war," Matalin told Malzberg. "These are not conventional enemies."
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