"We are a nation of immigrants, and we should be proud of that... We can't let Trump or anybody of his ilk undermine one of our greatest strengths," Clinton said. | AP Photo Clinton goes after Trump on terrorism

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both paused their campaign ads on Sunday, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, a day when politics is traditionally set aside. But Clinton didn't hold back from criticizing her GOP opponent in a pre-taped interview with Chris Cuomo on CNN's "State of the Union," saying that Trump's rhetoric has made it harder to protect the country from future attacks.

"What unfortunately Donald Trump has done is made our job harder, and given a lot of aid and comfort to ISIS operative, even ISIS officials, who want to create this as some kind of clash of civilizations, a religious war," Clinton said. "It's not, and we can't let it become that."


Trump’s comments about American Muslims, she said, risk alienating them and increasing the lure of the Islamic State.

“We don’t have the depth of problems that you see in Europe because we’ve done a much better job of assimilating people from everywhere,” Clinton said.

“We are a nation of immigrants, and we should be proud of that. It’s a great asset. We can’t let Trump or anybody of his ilk undermine one of our greatest strengths.”

Clinton said she was “committed to depriving ISIS of their so-called caliphate” if elected. She also pledged to work more closely with the Chinese to make sure North Korea — which conducted another nuclear test last week — does not develop what she called a “deliverable nuclear weapon.”

Clinton went after Trump again when Cuomo asked her view of Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I think his ignorance about Russia and Putin are dangerous,” Clinton said. “In an interview, he didn’t even know that Putin had invaded and occupied Crimea.”

Trump’s “romance with Putin” and other dictators, like Saddam Hussein, “sends a message that maybe the United States no longer stands for human rights, for freedom, for human dignity.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper said the network reached out to Trump about also making a Sept. 11 appearance, but that he declined.