The United States has continued to face Islamic terror attacks and arrest those in the planning stages of attacks, but Democrats have consistently downplayed the threat of terror attacks.
In the past year, over 30 individuals connected to ISIS have been arrested by American law enforcement and 63 people have been killed and over 100 wounded in terror attacks. Rhetoric from Democrats, however, has remained calm.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest described the fight against ISIS Monday as “a narrative fight.” The day prior, Democratic vice presidential nominee and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said, “we have dramatically improved in the last year” in the fight against ISIS.
President Barack Obama has been slow to describe terror attacks as such, possibly in an effort to minimize their effect. In a press conference following the capture of the Chelsea, New York bomber, Obama said that we shouldn’t “succumb to that fear” terrorism seeks to cause. Republican nominee Donald Trump has chosen a different route.
In a statement Monday, Trump’s communications director Jason Miller said, “Diminishing the threat the Obama Administration has allowed to materialize on its watch puts us all at risk and is another reminder that we need new leadership in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism.”
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has echoed administration officials’ rhetoric regarding ISIS and said in December, “we now finally are where we need to be.” ISIS has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria, giving credence to Democrats’ rhetoric. However, FBI Director James Comey said in May that, “their ability to motivate troubled souls, to inspire them, remains a persistent presence in the United States.”