The presidential election is far from being over, and if GOP nominee Donald Trump can stay on point and talk about the issues facing the nation, he could get his message across more effectively and defeat Hillary Clinton, Rep. Sean Duffy, who endorses Trump, said Thursday.
"If Donald Trump can get more scripted, if he can be more on point and talk about security, and safety, and the economy, and economic growth and better-paying jobs, he's a winner," the Wisconsin Republican told MSNBC'S "Morning Joe" program. "People who have seen Hillary Clinton don't like her, but they want an alternative who's going to help lead the country forward."
And when show co-host Mika Brzezinski, a frequent Trump critic, wanted to know why Duffy continues to support the GOP nominee, he said there are "two choices," and while Trump "may not be the most articulate," Clinton is more dangerous, through her "email scandal exposing our secrets to anyone who has a shoestring budget ... she's been an utter disaster with regard to foreign policy."
He also refused to agree with those like Brzezinski and others who insist that the comments Trump made during a rally this week about Second Amendment supporters blocking Clinton being a suggestion that she should be assassinated.
"He truly was inspiring people to come out and get activated in this election," said Duffy. "People in Middle America didn't take your read on what he said."
Also on Thursday, NBC's Willie Geist tried to lock Duffy down on his opinion on Trump's repeated comments that President Barack Obama and Clinton "founded" ISIS, but Duffy did not offer a direct answer.
"What I do agree with is that when ISIS was in its infancy, Barack Obama called it a JV team," said Duffy. "He did nothing to defeat it, to eradicate it."
"But do you think the president is in league with ISIS?" Geist asked again.
"When we are in rallies, you know, things get a little animated," Duffy told him. "But the point he is making is, Obama let them grow, Obama-Clinton foreign policy allowed this movement to take root and kill a lot of people."
And when Geist finally asked him for a "yes or no" answer, Duffy conceded that it was a "probably no" that Obama founded ISIS.
"Is he one of the guys on the ground, no," said Duffy. "But did he allow policies that let it become what they are today? Absolutely."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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