Trump says he doesn’t think Obama sympathizes with terrorists

Donald Trump on Monday night backed away from his suggestion that President Obama sympathizes with terrorists — though he again questioned the president’s support of American allies.

When asked during an interview on Fox News’s “The O’Reilly Factor” if he believe the president is sympathetic to terrorists, Trump said, “I don’t believe it.” 

But, he said there seems to be a “double standard” when it comes to the administration’s signature Iran nuclear deal and his support for Israel.

“So I look at things and I see what’s going on. And I’m a commonsense person,” Trump added. “And I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.”

Following the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee appeared to question Obama’s commitment to defeating terrorism. In an interview last week, the real estate mogul said Obama either didn’t understand the radical Islamic terror threat or that there’s “something going on” that is “inconceivable.”

Later that week, he even tweeted a story link that claimed the president has indirectly supported the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton chided those comments in a speech last week in which she argued Trump had “suggested that President Obama is on the side of the terrorists.”

“Even in a time of divided politics, this is way beyond anything that should be said by someone running for president of the United States,” Clinton said.

In the Monday night interview, Trump continued to knock Obama for refusing to say “radical Islamic terrorism.” 

“Well, it bothers me when he’s afraid or doesn’t want to mention the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism,’” Trump said.

“I look at what he doesn’t say,” he said. “How do you solve a problem if you’re unwilling to discuss it or unwilling to name it?”

In a speech last week, Obama addressed Trump and other Republicans’ criticism for his refusal to use that phrase.

“What exactly would using this label accomplish?” he asked. “What exactly would it change?”