CNN 2015 GOP primary debate: on Foreign Policy
Bobby Jindal:
The idea of America is slipping away, but we can rescue it
We've got a president who won't even say the words radical Islamic terrorism. He has declared war on trans fats and a truce with Iran. Think about that. He's more worried about Twinkies than he is about the ayatollahs having a nuclear weapon.
That's what is happening, the idea of America is slipping away. We must not let that happen on our watch. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to rescue the idea of America, the choice for conservatives.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary undercard debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Carly Fiorina:
Rebuild 6th fleet instead of talking to Putin
Q [to Fiorina]: Mr. Trump said he could do business with President Vladimir Putin, you say and that they would get along "very well." You've met Vladimir Putin...
FIORINA: Having met Vladimir Putin, I wouldn't talk to him at all. We've talked way too much to him. What I would do, immediately, is begin rebuilding the Sixth Fleet,
I would begin rebuilding the missile defense program in Poland, I would conduct regular, aggressive military exercises in the Baltic states. I'd probably send a few thousand more troops into Germany. Vladimir Putin would get the message.
Russia is a bad actor, but Vladimir Putin is someone we should not talk to, because the only way he will stop is to sense strength and resolve on the other side, and we have all of that within our control.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Carly Fiorina:
No Iran nuke deal unless we can inspect
You have not heard a plan about Iran from any politician up here, here is my plan. On day one in the Oval Office, I will make two phone calls, the first to my good friend to Bibi Netanyahu to reassure him we will stand with the state of Israel.
The second, to the supreme leader, to tell him that unless and until he opens every military and every nuclear facility to real anytime, anywhere inspections by our people, not his, we, the
United States of America, will make it as difficult as possible and move money around the global financial system.
We can do that, we don't need anyone's cooperation to do it.
And every ally and every adversary we have in this world will know that the United States in America is back in the leadership business, which is how we must stand with our allies.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Chris Christie:
I won't deal with or even meet with countries that hate us
I will not shake hands with, I will not meet with, and I will not agree to anything with a country that says death to us and death to Israel and holds our hostages while we sign agreements with them.
It will be an America that be strong and resolute, and will once again be able to stick out its chest and say, "we truly are the greatest nation in the world, because we live our lives that way, each and every day."
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Donald Trump:
Putin has no respect for America; I will get along with him
Q: What would you do right now if you were president, to get the Russians out of Syria?TRUMP: Number one, they have to respect you. He has absolutely no respect for President Obama. Zero. I would talk to him. I would get along with him.
I believe I would get along with a lot of the world leaders that this country is not getting along with. I think I will get along with Putin, and I will get along with others, and we will have a much more stable world.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Donald Trump:
We must deal with the maniac in North Korea with nukes
[With regards to the Iranian nuclear deal]: Nobody ever mentions North Korea where you have this maniac sitting there and he actually has nuclear weapons and somebody better start thinking about North Korea and perhaps a couple of other places.
You have somebody right now in North Korea who has got nuclear weapons and who is saying almost every other week, "I'm ready to use them." And we don't even mention it.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Jeb Bush:
Give Israel sophisticated weapons to send message to Iran
As it relates to Iran, it's not a strategy to tear up an agreement. A strategy would be how do we confront Iran? And, the first thing that we need to do is to establish our commitment to Israel which has been altered by this administration.
And, make sure that they have the most sophisticated weapons to send a signal to Iran that we have Israel's back. If we do that, it's going to create a healthier deterrent effect than anything else I can think of.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Marco Rubio:
North Korea is run by a maniac with nuclear weapons
If you're running for president, [foreign policy] are important issues, because look at around the world today.There is a lunatic in North Korea with dozens of nuclear weapons and long-range rocket that can already hit the very place in which we stand
tonight. The Chinese are rapidly expanding their military. They hack into our computers. They're building artificial islands in the South China Sea, the most important shipping lane in the world.
A gangster in Moscow is not just threatening Europe,
he's threatening to destroy and divide NATO. You have radical jihadists in dozens of countries across multiple continents. And they even recruit Americans using social media to try to attack us here at home.
And now we have got this horrible deal with
Iran where a radical Shia cleric with an apocalyptic vision of the future is also guaranteed to one day possess nuclear weapons and also a long-range rocket that can hit the United States.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Marco Rubio:
Putin trying to position Russia as a geopolitical force
Putin said that the fall of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, and he's trying to reverse that. He's trying to destroy NATO. He is exploiting a vacuum that this administration has left in the Middle East.
The Russians will begin to fly combat missions in that region, not just targeting ISIS, but in order to prop up Assad. Putin will say, "America is no longer a reliable ally, Egypt. America is no longer a reliable ally, Saudi Arabia. Rely on us."
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Rand Paul:
Let those in the Middle East fight the battles there
I'm not sending our sons and our daughters back to Iraq. The war didn't work. We can amplify those who live there. The Kurds deserve to be armed and I'll arm them. But the boots on the ground need to be the people who live there.
Why are we always the world's patsies that we have to go over there and fight their wars for them? We need to defend American interests, but it is not in America's national security interests to have another war in Iraq.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Scott Walker:
China launched a cyber-attack; send a message now
When it comes to China, why would we be giving an official state visit to a country that's been involved in a massive cyber attack against the United States? That's not just a visit, that's a 21 gun salute on the South Lawn of the White House.
It just doesn't make any sense. If we're ever going to send a message to them, wouldn't this be the time, when they've issued this massive attack against us?
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Ted Cruz:
Don't let world courts bind American sovereignty
Q: Governor Kasich accuses you of playing to the crowd and being inexperienced.CRUZ: Well, let's be clear when it comes to experience. What President Obama wants to do is he's run to the United Nations, and he wants to use the
United Nations to bind the United States, and take away our sovereignty. Well, I spent five and a half years as a Solicitor General of Texas, the lead lawyer for the state, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, and
I went in front of the Supreme Court, and took on the World Court of the United Nations in a case called Medellin v. Texas, and we won a historic victory saying the
World Court, and the U.N., has no power to bind the United States, and no President of the United States, Republican or Democrat, has the authority to give away our sovereignty.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Ted Cruz:
Move American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
Q: How will the world look different once your Air Force One is parked in the hangar of your presidential library, like Reagan's here?A: If I'm elected president our friends and allies across the globe will know that we stand with them. The bust of Wi
You want to know what I'll do as president? It is real simple. We'll kill the terrorists, we'll repeal Obamacare, and we will defend the Constitution, every single word of it. Ted Cruz
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Sep 16, 2015
Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018