Donald Trump has criticized Barack Obama’s Oval Office address Sunday night for being too short and failing to used the phrase ‘Islamic terrorists’.
In a live-tweet session during Obama’s speech, only his third address from the Oval Office, Trump also warned him against ‘spending too much time ripping apart the second amendment’.
However, Obama kept the issue of tighter gun control on the agenda, calling for congress to step in as ‘a matter of national security’, while reiterating his stance that America is fighting a war against ‘thugs’, not against Islam itself.
Obama’s speech was designed to reassure concerned Americans in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks on Wednesday this week which saw 14 people killed and another 21 wounded.
The attacks have since been described as ‘an act of terror’ by both the FBI and Obama, as it was revealed attackers Syed Farook and wife Tashfeen Malik had been radicalized.
Obama and Hillary Clinton have both been widely criticized by Republicans, particularly the presidential hopefuls, for refusing to use the phrase ‘radical Islamic terrorists’ while referring to ISIS.
It was a phrase that Obama again steered clear of this evening, instead referring to the group as ‘ISIL’ – the preferred abbreviation used by the security services.
Trump criticized this approach on Twitter, saying: ‘Well, Obama refused to say (he just can’t say it), that we are at WAR with RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISTS.’
He subsequently reposted another tweet by a supporter, adding: ‘[Obama] will never say it, therefore he will never have a solution!’
Trump also attacked the President for using ISIL instead of ISIS to refer to the terror group, saying ‘almost everyone else’ uses the latter abbreviation.
ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, while ISIL stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – an historic term used in the Koran to describe the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.
Trump was on the offensive before Obama had even entered the room, criticizing the podium for looking ‘odd’, though adding ‘the words will be the key’.
Obama spoke at length about his plans to limit Americans’ access to high-powered weapons such as assault rifles and about banning people on the no-fly list from buying guns.
He said: ‘Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun.
‘What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semiautomatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.
‘We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons, like the ones that were used in San Bernardino.
‘I know there are some who reject any gun-safety measures, but the fact is that our intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, no matter how effective they are, cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual was motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology.
‘What we can do, and must do, is make it harder for them to kill.’
While Trump looked primed to attack Obama over these comments, such as Marco Rubio did earlier in the day, his criticisms never materialized.
Instead, he took aim at Obama’s speech for being too short and lacking in ideas.
Following the end of the speech, which lasted for around 15 minutes, Trump messaged: ‘Is that all there is? We need a new President – FAST!’
He later added part of his own strategy for defeating ISIS, saying that America needs to be targeting the oil fields in Iraq that the group is using to fund its campaign of terror.
It comes after Trump earlier tweeted a video of himself talking to Anderson Cooper on CNN back in July in which he advocated ‘bombing the hell out of’ ISIS-controlled oil fields.
He has frequently used his early calls for raids on the oil supply to criticize the U.S. strategy on ISIS, claiming that he was ahead of strategy chiefs on making the call.
Obama also spoke about security officials ‘looking at’ the visa application process for entry into America after it was revealed that Malik came to the U.S. on a visa for fiances of citizens.
During this section of his speech, Trump retweeted a comment from a supporter saying: ‘He needs to stop all Visas not look at them!’
While Trump did not express the view himself, retweets are often intended to indicate a person endorses a particular statement, and he is known for taking a hardline approach to immigration.
Obama firmly dismissed a change in strategy in the war against the extremists that would require combat troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria on Sunday.
He also called for unity in the face of the attacks, and appealed against Americans ‘turning against one another’, saying ‘that is exactly what groups like ISIL want’.
He said: ‘Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors are coworkers, our sports heroes. And yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that.’
We need to profile Muslims. Sorry, but it has come to that. We need to halt Visas and the Refugee Resettlement Program immediately. We need to seal our borders and put a moratorium on immigration for at least two years while we get a handle on all this. But instead of addressing any of that, or the fact that agencies and police should meet terrorist threats with deadly force, or that we should bomb ISIS out of existence… Obama went after the guns last night. He wants to strip individuals of their constitutional rights even though they haven’t been charged with a crime. He wants to expand the ‘No-Fly List’ into the uber Terrorist Watch List, which is in essence an Enemies List. This is sheer gun control and confiscation propaganda. And he’s asking Congress for their blessing much as Hitler did in the 1930’s. Trump is right on this again and his poll numbers are sure to go up over it. Obama is obviously on the side of the terrorists and is just begging for us to get hit with a major terrorist attack. He is trying to take away our means of defense while this is going on. America better wake up and fast that Obama is not going to protect us. He’s going to do us in.