This morning on Varney and Co on Fox Business, Dana Loesch said this:
.@DLoesch: "He said Islamic extremism to Saudi Arabia's face… there's been an absence of spine and I feel like it's back." #TrumpinIsrael
— Varney & Co. (@Varneyco) May 22, 2017
Now I’m not faulting Dana for anything here as I much prefered the use of the word Islamic in that context. But I just want to point out that the White House is clarifying his remark on ‘Islamic Extremism’:
CNN – The difference between “Islamic extremism” and “Islamist extremism”? One exhausted President.
President Donald Trump’s substitution of the slightly different terms during his highly anticipated speech in Saudi Arabia on Sunday might go unnoticed by the average US listener.
But the subtle change — or slip, as the White House called it — could mean the difference between offending Middle Eastern allies and not, a concern for any president looking to create a good first impression with a key ally on a first trip abroad.
“There is still much work to be done,” Trump said. “That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism and the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds.”
On Sunday night, a senior White House official said Trump’s decision to say “Islamic extremism” instead of “Islamist extremism” as written in his prepared remarks was not intentional but the product of exhaustion brought on by the rigorous travel schedule.
“Just an exhausted guy,” the senior White House official said.
According to the White House, the 70-year-old President hadn’t gotten much sleep. He edited the speech with his aides during the 14-hour journey from Washington, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, and spent the remainder of the flight reading newspapers, an aide said.
They go on to explain the difference:
Using the word “Islamic,” a reference to the religion, in the same breath as “terrorism” could be seen by Muslims as an affront to their faith and actually play into the terrorists’ “clash of civilizations” narrative — reasons why President Barack Obama assiduously avoided the combination during his presidency.
“Islamist,” meanwhile, refers to political movements that seek to implement Islamic law and theology, making it less objectionable to Muslims when paired with “terrorism,” the idea goes.
So while we might like that Trump said it, the White House wants everyone to know that he didn’t really mean to say it, it was a slip.
And that’s the rest of the story.