Hillary Clinton admonished rival Donald Trump on Thursday for claiming that she and Barack Obama were the founders of the Islamic State, saying anyone who would "sink so low" should never be president. "No, Barack Obama is not the founder of ISIS," Clinton tweeted. "Anyone willing to sink so low, so often should never be allowed to serve as our Commander-in-Chief."
Trump again roiled the presidential campaign late Wednesday, telling a rally in Florida that Obama "is the founder of ISIS." "And I would say, the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton." Republicans have long stated that the foreign policies of Obama and his then-secretary of state Clinton share blame in helping create conditions that allowed IS to grow in Iraq and Syria.
IS was founded in 2013, months after Clinton left the State Department. It was born out of the terror group al Qaeda in Iraq that grew in strength in 2006 following Republican president George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003. The group flourished with Obama's withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in late 2011. Republicans said Obama was slow to recognize the threat when he said in 2014 that the Islamic State was a "JV" - junior varsity - team even though they gained ground in Syria and Iraq.