OC Radio Host Stumps Trump With Series Of Foreign Policy Questions
ORANGE (CBSLA.com) — A little less than two weeks before he is scheduled to visit the Southland, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump appeared on an Orange County radio show.
By many accounts, he had trouble answering questions about foreign policy posed to him by the host, Hugh Hewitt.
But Trump supporters like conservative radio host Laura Ingraham called them "gotcha" questions.
She tweeted: "Gotcha Thurs: Trump dn know the names of the top terror leaders & affiliated groups. Wd be fun to do quiz on ALL candidates--on Const."
Hewitt asked Trump if he was familiar with General Soleimani, who runs the Quds forces.
Trump replied. "Yes," before a long pause. "Go ahead. Give me a little, go ahead. Tell me."
Trump then said, "Yes, OK. Right."
He added: "The Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated by us. "
Hewitt cut him off and said, "No, no. Not the Kurds. The Quds forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds forces."
The interview was conducted Thursday.
Hewitt also asked him about leaders of various world terror organizations "like Hassan Nasrallah and Zawahiri and Al-Julani and Al-Baghdadi. Do you know who the various men are without a scorecard?"
Trump said: "No, you know, I'll tell you honestly, by the time we get to office, they'll all be changed. They'll be all gone."
The former host of "Celebrity Apprentice" later called Hewitt "a third-rate radio announcer."
Trump said: "When you're asking me about this, or who's running this, this, this, that's not -- I will be so good at the military, your head will spin."
On the same day, candidate Carly Fiorina didn't hesitate when answering some of the same questions about leaders of terror organizations.
"Look," she said. "We know the general of the Quds forces has been a powerful tool of the Iranian regime to sow conflict."
Trump's other GOP opponents were quick to pounce on his lack of knowledge.
"You just can't flippantly say, 'Oh, well, I'll just hire the best people,' " said Gov. Jeb Bush. "You have to have some sense of what is at risk here."
"I think if you don't know the answers to those questions, then you're not going to be able to serve as commander-in-chief," said Sen. Marco Rubio.
Trump is scheduled to speak on the USS Iowa on Sept. 15.
He will give "a major national security address" and is expected to pack all 2,000 seats.