WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton has no evidence to back up her claim during Saturday’s presidential debate that the Islamic State is using video of Donald Trump to recruit Muslims to its cause, her campaign said.
Clinton stated that the Republican presidential contender is ‘‘becoming ISIS’s best recruiter,’’ with the group attracting people by showing videos of him.
Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri acknowledged Sunday that the campaign is aware of no such ISIS video, but said jihadis are capitalizing on Trump’s comments about Muslims through social media.
“They are going to people, showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists,’’ Clinton said during the debate.
Trump’s provocative comments about Muslims, including his call to ban them from coming to the United States, have been widely played across the Middle East, through social media and other means.
Many critics, including some of Trump’s Republican rivals, see his positions as playing into the hands of terrorists and raising the risk of radicalizing Muslims.