Clinton: Trump ‘playing into the hands of violent jihadists’

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday ripped Donald Trump for his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country, accusing the GOP front-runner of “playing into the hands of violent jihadists.”

“What you’re hearing from the Republicans and most particularly from Mr. Trump about Muslims isn’t just dangerous, it’s shameful,” the White House hopeful said at a campaign rally in Keota, Iowa. “It’s not the kind of language someone running for President of the United States should be using and it has consequences.”

{mosads}Trump proposed a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the country following terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., that were either inspired by or carried out by agents associated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The proposal has been condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike, but Trump has stood by his remarks, claiming he’s the only candidate taking the threat from ISIS seriously.

Clinton on Tuesday said Trump’s “derogatory and defamatory” comments were being translated into Arabic and pumped out as a recruitment tool for terrorists across the Muslim world.

“It’s playing into the hands of the violent jihadists,” Clinton said. “There’s nothing more they want to claim than that the U.S. is against Islam and against Muslims. That then lights an even bigger fire for them to make their propaganda claims through social media and other ways.”

Clinton first said during the last Democratic debate that Trump was becoming “ISIS’ best recruiter” and that the group was using him for propaganda.

Trump blasted that claim and demanded an apology. “Hillary said at debate ISIS is ‘going to people showing videos in order to recruit more radical jihadistst.’ She made up story-want apology,” he tweeted Monday.

Trump has mocked Clinton in recent days, saying on Tuesday that she “got schlonged” by then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The real estate mogul also ridiculed Clinton for returning late to the stage after a commercial break during Saturday night’s Democratic debate because she was in the restroom.

A student at Tuesday’s rally joked about the incident with Clinton.

“If girls want to run the world we should give a few more minutes for bathroom breaks at the debates,” the student said. “I’m glad you got back.”

Said Clinton: “I’m just glad they had one somewhere.”

This story was updated at 4:49 p.m.