Trump: Clinton lacks strength, stamina

CEDAR RAPIDS — Hillary Clinton doesn't have the strength or stamina to be president, Donald Trump said at a Cedar Rapids rally Saturday. He predicted he will win the Iowa caucuses before defeating Clinton in the largest turnout in history.

'But we have to get there first,' he said, asking more than 1,000 people at Veterans Memorial Coliseum to caucus for him.

'No matter what's going on in your life — if you get the worst news you've ever gotten, which hopefully that won't happen — you got to get out Feb. 1. You got to get to the caucus and get it done,' he said.

In return, Trump said at the end of his rambling 75-minute speech, 'I promise you one thing: I will make America great again.'

That seemed to be what the crowd came to hear.

'I want there to be a very big change as soon as possible,' said Kim Katch of Clive. The economy is among the things that make her 'scared to death' of the way things are. 'We only have one way to go,' she said, 'and he can make a change.'

A national debt of $200,000 for every household in America and the threat of Islamic terrorism are reasons Ron Meyer of Cedar Rapids said he's ready to caucus for Trump.

Across the street from the Trump rally, another viewpoint was being expressed. More than 100 people gathered on May's Island to send Trump a message that his comments on Muslims are not welcome and have consequences.

Since Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country, violence and hostility toward Muslims have increased, according to Charles Crawley of the Inter-Religious Council of Linn County. He said Trump's comments were a turning point for him and others who gathered to 'put our arms around the Muslim community and say we are in solidarity with you.'

Hassan Selim, imam at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids, raised a sign nearby proclaiming: 'I am an American, I am a Muslim, I am proud.'

The demonstration was not just a rebuke of Trump but a celebration of the history of Muslims in Cedar Rapids beginning in the late 1800s, Crawley said. He noted that the Mother Mosque, the first permanent structure built in the United States specifically to be a mosque, was erected in Cedar Rapids 81 years ago.

Selim said he and the Muslim community feel safe and accepted in Cedar Rapids but added that Trump's polarizing comments create fear.

The demonstration was a 'conversation of love,' Selim said. 'It wouldn't have happened if not for Donald Trump.'

Trump spent little time talking about his proposed ban on Muslims entering the country. He talked about building an 'incredible' wall on the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration, about lessening the trade imbalance with China, Mexico and others and bringing jobs back to America, and the importance of the Second Amendment, especially in light of terrorist attacks on unarmed civilians in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.

He also trained his sights on Clinton, who he said is 'like a snake with no energy.'

Trump, 69, said Clinton, 68, comes to Iowa, meets a few people and then disappears for days.

'She goes back home to sleep,' he said. 'She doesn't have the energy, I'm telling you. She doesn't have the stamina. She doesn't have the strength.'

According to the website p2016.org, which tracks candidate visits, Clinton has visited Iowa 20 times to Trump's 22 visits. She has done 65 events, including town hall meetings in Iowa City and Mason City last week. At those events, she took audience questions on everything from land mines to fossil fuels to whether she'd rather be president or Beyonce. Trump took no questions Saturday.

Trump said the nation needs a president who is strong because 'you've got all these countries that want to rip you apart. You've got all these insurgent groups, you have ISIS — they want to rip you apart. You can't have somebody who doesn't have the strength, the stamina.

'She's got to work 28 hours a day. Forty hours a day. You got to work all the time,' he said.

'This country is in big trouble. You need someone who is really smart and can really work and has stamina,' he said. 'We've got to put it back together again.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.