Donald Trump said Thursday he believes getting asked about the heads of major terrorist organizations amounts to a “gotcha question.”
Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, blasted conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview and said it is “ridiculous” to be asked about who the heads of Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Nusra and ISIS are.
“I think it’s ridiculous. I’ll have, I’m a delegator. I find great people. I find absolutely great people, and I’ll find them in our armed services, and I find absolutely great people,” Trump said.
Trump sought to downplay the importance of knowing who controls these terror organizations. He suggested that those leaders — some of whom have led their groups for years — would likely no longer be in power by the time he would reach the White House.
“As far as the individual players, of course I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. I haven’t been, you know, in a position to meet them. If, if they’re still there, which is unlikely in many cases, but if they’re still there, I will know them better than I know you,” he said.
And Trump added that the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah, the terrorist organizations that pose the most direct threat to Israel, does not yet matter to him.
“It will when it’s appropriate,” Trump said.
Carly Fiorina, who is also vying for the GOP presidential nomination, told Hewitt in an interview later on Thursday that she did not believe the questions amounted to “gotcha questions.”
“The questions you’re asking are at the heart of the threat that we face, that our ally, Israel, faces, that the world faces. It is critically important that America lead again in the world. It is critically important that we have a leader in the White House who understands the world and who’s in it and how it works,” Fiorina told Hewitt.
Trump was also flustered early in the interview when he appeared not to recognize the name of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Forces who has played a critical role in Iraq and in the fight against ISIS and is also believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Trump initially thought Hewitt said “Kurds” and not “Quds” and began saying that the Kurds, who have been crucial allies in the fight against ISIS, “have been horribly mistreated.”
Hewitt explained that Soleimani “is to terrorism sort of what Trump is to real estate,” before Trump asked:
“Is he the gentleman that was going back and forth with Russia and meeting with Putin? I read something, and that seems to be also where he’s at,” Trump said.
“That’s the guy,” Hewitt replied.