Waterboarding
After extremists slaughtered 130 people in Paris last November and a Muslim husband-and-wife team murdered 14 in San Bernardino, California, Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
The move prompted an uproar, but he doubled down, presenting himself as prepared to do more to crack down on extremism than his political rivals.
After San Bernardino, “It became a permanent part of the Trump dialogue,” said Quinnipiac’s Malloy.
In March, following a deadly attack in Brussels, Trump said his insistence on defeating extremism was “probably why I’m number one in the polls.”
Opinion polls late last year showed a majority of Republicans supporting Trump’s call for a Muslim travel ban.
Trump and Clinton are promoting radically different approaches to fighting terror, and have traded accusations that the other is not fit to run the country.
Trump has repeatedly called for a halt to refugee flows from the Middle East, and assailed Clinton for wanting to expand them.
He says he is prepared to re-authorize torture methods such as waterboarding in terrorism cases and advocates targeting the families of terror suspects.
Trump also repeatedly argues that attacks like the one in Paris would have seen far fewer casualties if people had been armed to defend themselves.
According to Quinnipiac, voters see Clinton as far more prepared than Trump to handle an international crisis — but they see Trump as better able to tackle the IS threat.
‘Get out of this race’
Their rival styles were on display after a gunman unleashed an assault on a gay nightclub in Florida that left 50 people dead, reportedly after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group.
“If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words ‘Radical Islam’ she should get out of this race for the presidency,” Trump thundered.
The former secretary of state trod more cautiously.
She declared Sunday’s attack “an act of terror” and an “act of hate,” and issued a statement saying Washington should redouble efforts to counter terror threats at home and abroad.
Clinton was to visit Ohio Monday for her first rally since clinching the Democratic nomination. She is expected to address the Orlando tragedy then.
Obama was to join her Wednesday for a high-profile campaign appearance, but the event was postponed because of the shooting.
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