Trump Claims Clinton Invented a Statement He Made to the Debate Moderator

Trump denied saying that Japan should get nuclear weapons. But he made that claim to Chris Wallace in April.

David Goldman/AP

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When Hillary Clinton noted during Wednesday night’s presidential debate that Donald Trump had said countries like Japan should get nuclear weapons to defend themselves, Trump called her a “liar” and said she was misquoting him.

“There’s no quote,” Trump said. “You’re not going to find a quote from me.”

It turns out Trump was the one lying, and he’d said exactly what Clinton claimed. Not only that, Trump’s comments endorsing nuclear weapons for other countries came during an interview with the debate moderator, Fox News’ Chris Wallace.

During an interview back in April, Trump told Wallace, “So, North Korea has nukes. Japan has a problem with that. I mean, they have a big problem with that. Maybe they would in fact be better off if they defend themselves from North Korea.”

Wallace clarified. “With nukes?” he asked.

“Including with nukes, yes, including with nukes,” Trump said.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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