Trump hails Rumsfeld endorsement despite criticizing Iraq War

Donald Trump on Thursday welcomed an endorsement from Donald Rumsfeld, despite previously criticizing the handling of the Iraq War.

Rumsfeld was secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration during the start of the Iraq War.

{mosads}“Thank you to Donald Rumsfeld for the endorsement,” Trump tweeted on Thursday. “Very much appreciated. Clinton’s conduct has been ‘disqualifying.’”

But Trump’s embrace of Rumsfeld came just a day after he criticized presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for voting to go to war as a senator.

“In short, Hillary Clinton’s tryout for the presidency has produced one deadly foreign policy disaster after another,” Trump said Wednesday in a speech. “It all started with her bad judgment in supporting the War in Iraq in the first place.

Trump also said he had opposed the war from the start.

“Though I was not in government service, I was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war, and yes, even before the war ever started,” he added.

Trump has regularly claimed on the campaign trail that he opposed the decision to invade Iraq.

But that claim have been questioned by critics. In a 2002 interview with Howard Stern, Trump said he supported the invasion.

Rumsfeld endorsed Trump on Wednesday.

“I’m a Republican, and there’s not any doubt in my mind how I’ll vote,” Rumsfeld told The Daily Mail.

He also praised Trump’s tough stance on Muslim immigration.

“He’s absolutely right,” Rumsfeld added. “Anyone who thinks the radical Islamists are not going to utilize every venue they can find to infiltrate the United States, and in western European countries, to achieve their goals — those people just don’t get it.”