GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday evaded a question on whether he’s more hawkish than Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by saying he’s smarter than her.
“Are you more hawkish than Hillary or less hawkish?” MSNBC host Chris Matthews asked Trump in a town-hall interview airing Wednesday night.
{mosads}“I’m probably more intelligent than Hillary,” Trump responded, to laughter in the audience.
“Oh come on,” Matthews said. “Answer the question. Are you more hawkish?”
Trump said he wouldn’t make a “blanket statement” like that, but said he’s repeatedly called U.S. involvement in Iraq a mistake that destabilized the Middle East.
“When we got out of Iraq, we got out the wrong way,” the businessman said. “We set a date, which was terrible. We should have left some soldiers back.”