February 19, 2016

Watch Donald Trump Respond to Evidence He Once Supported the Invasion of Iraq

“Don’t forget, I wasn’t a politician.”

Trump said the invasion of Iraq "may have been the worst decision ever made by any president in history."Andrew Harnik/AP

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump acknowledged Thursday night that it was possible he supported the invasion of Iraq during a 2002 interview with radio host Howard Stern—despite his campaign’s persistent criticisms of the Iraq War and George W. Bush’s record as commander in chief. The audio was uncovered and published Thursday night by BuzzFeed.

“It was probably the first time I was asked that question,” Trump said during the televised town hall appearance on CNN. “By the time the war started, I was against the war.”

“Don’t forget, I wasn’t a politician,” Trump said. “So people didn’t write everything I said. I was a businessperson.” Watch the clip:

Earlier in the night, Trump attacked George W. Bush for the decision to invade Iraq, saying it “may have been the worst decision ever made by any president in history.” But he refused to repeat his earlier accusations that Bush deliberately lied to the American people.

The town hall came at the end of a big day for Trump, in which Pope Francis questioned Trump’s Christianity because the mogul wants to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. (Trump said on CNN that Mexico may have put the pope up to it.)

It’s the final televised event before South Carolina’s Republican primary on Saturday.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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