Donald Trump on Calling President Obama 'Founder of ISIS': 'Is There Something Wrong With Saying That?'

Donald Trump on Thursday morning doubled down on his Wednesday claim that President Obama is the "founder of ISIS," appearing incredulous that anybody would dare challenge the notion.

"He was the founder of ISIS, absolutely," Trump said on CNBC when asked if it was "appropriate" to say that Obama founded a terrorist organization. Seemingly confused that he would be questioned about the appropriateness of the comments, the New York businessman later asked: "Is there something wrong with saying that? Why? Are people complaining that I said he was the founder of ISIS?"

Trump once again sparked outrage on Wednesday night after claiming at a rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that Obama has a relationship with ISIS, the Middle East-based terrorist organization, and was its "founder."

"ISIS is honoring President Obama," Trump said at the rally to applause from the audience. "He's the founder of ISIS. He founded ISIS."

He added: "I would say the co-founder would be ‘Crooked’ Hillary Clinton."

Trump made similar comments last week, instead calling Clinton the "founder of ISIS" and adding that "she should get an award from them."

During the Thursday interview, Trump said that Obama and Clinton deserve "the most valuable player award having to do with Iraq and having to do with the ISIS situation," he said.

Trump also criticized Obama for referring to the Islamic State as ISIL, claiming that, "He calls it ISIL because nobody else does, and he wants to bother people by using a different term, and whether it’s more accurate or not — most people call it ISIS. He calls it ISIL."

In Thursday morning's interview, Trump also seemed to tacitly acknowledge that he may not win the November election, noting "it's OK" because he'll "go back to a very good way of life" and take a "nice long vacation."

"I'm a truth teller. All I do is tell the truth," said Trump. "And if at the end of 90 days, I've fallen short because I'm somewhat politically correct even though I'm supposed to be the smart one and even though I'm supposed to have a lot of good ideas, it's OK. I go back to a very good way of life."

"I think we're going to have victory, but we'll see," Trump said, adding, "At the end it's either going to work or I'm going to have a very, very nice long vacation."

[Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons]