Donald Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani tore into Hillary Clinton's anti-terrorism stance on Sunday, accusing her of communicating to jihadists that the United States is a "patsy."
In an interview with ABC News' "This Week" on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Giuliani — despite his stated practice of not talking politics on September 11 — said there is a "major difference" between Clinton's anti-terror strategy and that of GOP nominee Donald Trump.
"I don’t like the way this administration has dealt with terrorism," …he said, adding, "We’re sitting back waiting for the next attack. We should be on offense."
"When Hillary said 'I’m not going to put any troops in', you might as well stop trying to deal with them," he said. "I mean, now they know you’re a patsy."
Later asked about Clinton's much-criticized remark lumping "half" of Trump supporters into "a basket of deplorables," Giuliani, who was New York City's mayor on 9/11, said "I'm not going to respond to that. I've never done politics on September 11 even when I was running for president."
"Neither one of them is a racist," he then said. "And for either one to say that means they’re getting a little too excited in their campaigning, but both of them are good people."
Giuliani also said the nation was "safer in certain ways" but "not as safe" in others a decade and a half after the worst terror strike on the U.S. homeland.
ISIS has "spread its tentacles all over the world," he said. "Al Qaida never had the capacity to do that…. The al Qaida people were Afghan warriors… they didn’t have the ability to use the Internet; they didn’t have the ability to infiltrate."
He also bat back against charges that Russia President Vladimir Putin is "playing" Trump.
"I say he’s played Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama all over the world," …Giuliani said.
"Obama’s the one who empowered him, not Donald Trump. Donald Trump wants to negotiate with him and push him back into a position in which we can deal with him effectively."
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