ublican presidential candidate Donald Trump called President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton "co-founders" of the Islamic State group (IS) on Thursday Cheap Mathew Barzal Jersey , in remarks certain to ignite fresh criticism of his campaign style.


The New York real estate developer has previously criticized Obama and Clinton - who served as secretary of state from 2009-13 - for how the US pulled out of Iraq after the war, saying it helped create the militant Islamist group that has seized swaths of Iraq and Syria.


The idea that a sitting US president created a militant group determined to kill Americans and other Westerners took that criticism to a new level. Trump first made the assertion in a speech in Florida on Wednesday night, and he repeated it in an interview with CNBC on Thursday morning.


His remarks followed a troubled week for the Republican candidate. Party leaders urged Trump to focus on the campaign to beat Clinton after he drew strong criticism for a persistent confrontation with the family of a Muslim American soldier who died in Iraq and for his initial refusal to support prominent Republican candidates in their primary races.


Recent opinion polls have shown Trump losing ground to Clinton, a former US senator and first lady, in the race for the November 8 election. An average of polls by Real Clear Politics has Clinton 7.7 percentage points ahead, at 48 percent to Trump's 40.3 percent.


"He [Obama] was the founder of ISIS. And so was she. I mean Cheap Josh Bailey Jersey , I call them co-founders," said Trump, who says he opposed the Iraq war. "He shouldn't have gotten out the way he got out. It was a disaster, what he did," he told CNBC.


Obama had opposed the Iraq war and campaigned for the White House in 2008 on a promise to end it. The US pulled combat troops out of the country in 2011.


Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS or ISIL Cheap Jordan Eberle Jersey , had its roots in the Al Qaeda insurgency that arose after the United States led an invasion of Iraq in 2003. Known for its brutality, the group in 2014 declared an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq, where fighting continues to rage.


In response to Trump's comments, Clinton spokesperson Jesse Lehrich pointed to US advances against the militant group in Libya this week. "FYI - US-backed militias retook ISIS's stronghold in Libya today thanks to Obama-authorized air strikes," he said in a tweet late on Wednesday.


But Trump did not back down, asking on CNBC Cheap Nick Leddy Jersey , "Is there something wrong with saying that? … Are people complaining that I said he was the founder of ISIS? All I do is to tell the truth, I'm a truth teller."