Hillary Finally ‘Disavows’ Orlando Terrorist’s Father After Trump Calls Her Out

When West Palm Beach NBC News affiliate WPTV first noticed the Orlando terrorist’s father seated right behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally in Orlando on Tuesday, the Clinton campaign played down the report, suggesting that all kinds of people attend political events.

Team Clinton’s statement explained that the rally was an “open-door event for the public,” and that Seddique Mateen, Muslim jihadist Omar Mateen’s father, “wasn’t invited as a guest and the campaign was unaware of his attendance until after the event.”

Clinton campaign statement part I: “This rally was a 3,000-person, open-door event for the public. This individual wasn’t invited as a guest

— Tory Dunnan (@ToryDunnanTV) August 9, 2016

Part II: and the campaign was unaware of his attendance until after the event.

— Tory Dunnan (@ToryDunnanTV) August 9, 2016

The Clinton campaign thought that the half-baked response would pass scrutiny. They thought wrong.

First, Seddique Mateen gave a series of interviews to WPTV. The optics didn’t look great for the Clinton campaign. “Hillary Clinton is good for United States versus Donald Trump, who has no solutions,” the Orlando terrorist’s father said enthusiastically, even showing reporters a sign he made declaring that clinton was “good for national security.”

He also praised the Democratic Party for welcoming him in. “It’s a Democratic party, so everyone can join,” he said.

After a week wasted in a public feud with a Gold Star family, Republican rival Donald Trump rightly jumped on the moment to exploit Clinton’s vulnerabilities.

“She did not disavow,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Tuesday, referring to the Clinton campaign’s initial response to Seddique Mateen. “If that were me, this would be a headline all over the world about Trump. But she did not, as I understand it, disavow this man. He’s got some pretty harsh views.”

Trump’s criticisms finally pushed Hillary over the edge, forcing the campaign to issue a stronger response to the incident.

“She disagrees with his views and disavows his support,” a Clinton campaign spokesman clarified late Tuesday, hours after Trump made his appearance on Fox.

But it was too little, too late. The damage had already been done.

Many survivors of the tragic Pulse nightclub Islamic terror attack have voiced their anger after seeing Seddique Matteen prominently displayed behind a major US presidential candidate.

“I’m outraged,” Pulse nightclub survivor Jacobi Ceballo told WPTV. “For him to come back to Orlando, where his son created devastation, was also mind-blowing. If I would have known that, I would have not come.” He continued:

Hillary has been supporting the LGBT community, she’s been to Pulse, you know? To find out [Mateen’s father] was there, it’s really disappointing. I’m not happy about it at all. I feel, like, let down.

Ceballo also suggested that he now regrets attending Hillary’s campaign rally in Orlando and questions whether her slogan “Stand Together” really means anything at all when she’s standing next to the parents of terrorists.