Seeking to differentiate himself from his opponents at the first GOP leaders' debate on Fox News Thursday night, Donald Trump bragged about having the foresight to oppose the war in Iraq … in July 2004:
"In July of 2004, I came out strongly against the war with Iraq because it was going to destabilize the Middle East. I am the only one on this stage who knew that and had the vision to say it. And that's exactly what happened. The region became totally destabliized.
Of course, the Iraq invasion began on March 19, 2003 — more than a year before the denunciation Trump is bragging about. That's still earlier than most of his fellow GOP candidates, but it's a bit much to brag about one's "vision" in saying that something was going to be a disaster after it had already happened.
Trump's politics were also rather different in July 2004. In an interview, he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat … It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans."
