Father of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen has been spotted at a Hillary Clinton rally with his presence becoming a political issue as the Donald Trump camp alleged that the Democratic presidential candidate's soft stance on Islamist terrorism would have attracted him there.
Sadiq Mateen, the father of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen, was sighted sitting behind Democratic presidential nominee Clinton during one of her Florida rallies this week, which now has been made a political issue by the rival Trump campaign.
The Clinton campaign has distanced itself from the father of the Orlando shooter, saying he was not invited for the rally.
Clinton Campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said Clinton "disagrees with (Mateen's) views and disavows his support".
"The rally was a 3,000-person, open-door event for the public. This individual wasn't invited as a guest and the campaign was unaware of his attendance until after the event," he said.
However, the Trump Campaign sought to make it a political issue after the video of the meeting went viral on social media.
"Everyone should sit back and say, what attracts this man to Hillary Clinton? What is it? What is she doing? I know what's attracted him. Her thought, position on Islamic extremist terrorism. The president never saying it. She was forced to say it because Donald trump criticised her so much," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump surrogate, told Fox News.
"All the things they indicate, they have not handled Islamic extremist terrorism with the strength and fight back we should have as a country trying to protect itself," Giuliani said.
"And the campaign, which is the least transparent campaign in history, meaning they hide things all the time, should tell us who put him there," Giuliani said.
"Secondly, here is the bigger question, what attracts him so much to Hillary Clinton. He has been going around carrying a sign about Hillary Clinton. What attracts a terrorist, which is what he is, this guy was on radio saying terrible anti- American things, supports the Taliban, this is a guy who said God should punish homosexuals.
"This is a guy who was a radical, Islamic terrorist himself and his son was a radical Islamic terrorist mass murder, the worse in American history. What attracts him to Hillary Clinton?" Giuliani asked.
After the rally, Mateen, who wore a red cap to the event, told NBC West Palm Beach-affiliate WPTV that he supports Clinton.
"Hillary Clinton is good for United States versus Donald Trump, who has no solutions," he was quoted as saying.
