Presidential races

Trump on terrorists: You have to take out their families

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that the families of terrorists ought to be targeted in the fight against Islamist militants.

{mosads}Trump made the remark during an interview on “Fox & Friends,” noting the Obama administration wants to see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leave power while the U.S. is simultaneously working to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a common enemy.

“You’ve got to pick who you’re fighting, you can’t fight everybody,” Trump said on the show.

“ISIS is our No. 1 threat,” Trump continued. “I would knock the hell out of them. I like to do one thing at a time.”

Asked about the possibility of civilian casualties, Trump initially pointed to civilians being used as human shields before suggesting the families of terrorists should be targeted.

“I would do my best, absolute best — I mean, one of the problems we have or one of the reasons we’re so ineffective, you know, they’re trying to, they’re using them as shields. It’s a horrible thing,” the real estate tycoon said.

“But we’re fighting a very politically correct war. And the other thing is with the terrorists, you have to take out their families,” Trump added.

“When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. But they say they don’t care about their lives. You have to take out their families.”