Bobby Jindal in Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2015

On Homeland Security: Hillary should not be above the law in her email scandal

With Hillary Clinton, it just seems to be one scandal after another. If any private in the military, if any other government official, had handled classified information the way she is said to have handled classified information, there would have been a court martial, there would have been even criminal prosecution. There would have certainly been consequences. She shouldn't be above the law. There shouldn't be a different set of rules for our elected leaders than for the rest of us. Source: ABC This Week 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Aug 30, 2015

On Budget & Economy: Reduced size of government in Louisiana

Q: Your approval rating in Louisiana has hovered around 30%, stemming largely from how you handled a deficit of about $1.6 billion, a budget shortfall. Why should anyone look at your economic record and say that's what I want for the nation?

JINDAL: We actually measure prosperity according to how people are doing in the real world, not the government sector. In Louisiana, we have balanced our budget 8 years in a row without raising taxes. Largest income tax cut in our state's history. Secondly, we have cut our state budget by 26%, $9 billion and cut over 30,000 fewer state government bureaucrats. We've had eight credit upgrades. We've got more people working than ever before in Louisiana's history, earning a higher income than ever before. We've reversed 25 years of out-migration. You look at Louisiana's economy and we have $60 billion, 90,000 jobs coming into our state because of economic development wins.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jul 12, 2015

On Foreign Policy: Bad Iran nuclear deal is worse than no deal

Q: Diplomats are suggesting that an Iran nuclear deal could be announced as soon as tomorrow. Your reaction?

JINDAL: I think a bad deal is worse than no deal. I fear this administration could start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Sunni countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are likely going to want their own nuclear capabilities This would be a threat to Israel, to Europe, to America. We're talking about an existential threat to the region, to the United States. Never mind the fact that we're not even asking Iran to recognize Israel, to cut off ties to terrorism, to release American prisoners. I'm just talking about giving up enriched uranium, giving up all their centrifuges, anytime, anywhere inspections. Those are the basic tenets of a basic deal. And it doesn't look like we're getting any of those things.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jul 12, 2015

On Principles & Values: Uncompromising GOP leadership in DC to make real change

I want to run a campaign where we embrace our principles, establishment Republicans don't want us to do that. Jeb Bush says, "We've got to be willing to lose the primary in order to win the general election." I strongly disagree with that. What some of those Republicans are saying is we've got to hide who we are. Nonsense. We don't just need to send a Republican to D.C., we need to send somebody who will take on the conventional wisdom. Republicans in D.C. say you cannot repeal ObamaCare. That you cannot shrink the federal government. You cannot balance the budget. You cannot do term limits. Well, if we don't do that, we're done. We can own this next century if we actually implement conservative reforms. I'm not running to manage the decline of this great country. I'm running to make real changes in D.C. Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jun 28, 2015

On Principles & Values: We must stop viewing ourselves as being separated by race

I'm glad that America has moved towards a much better view on race relations. I've said we need to stop viewing ourselves as hyphenated Americans, we're not African Americans or Indian Americans, we're all Americans. I think viewing people by the color of their skin is one of the dumbest ways to view people. Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jun 28, 2015

On Civil Rights: Ok to deny services to gays based on religious beliefs

Q: What about the right of businesses to not serve gay customers?

JINDAL: This is about business owners that don't want to have to choose between their Christian faith, and being able to operate their businesses. What they don't want is the government to force them to participate in wedding ceremonies that contradict their beliefs. I was disappointed [that the law was overturned] in Indiana.

Q: So it's OK based on religious conviction for a business to deny services to a same-sex couple?

JINDAL: JINDAL: We're not talking about day-to-day routine commercial transactions. We're talking about a very specific example here of business owners--florists, musicians, caterers--who are being forced to either pay thousands or close their businesses if they don't want to participate in a wedding ceremony that contradicts their religious beliefs. So in that instance, yeah, I think part of the First Amendment means that we allow individuals to obey their conscience, to obey their religious beliefs.

Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Apr 5, 2015

On Civil Rights: Let's have religious liberty without anti-gay discrimination

Q: [There is a Louisiana] bill that would allow private businesses to refuse to recognize same-sex marriage, should it become legal in Louisiana. The legislation would allow a private company to not offer the same benefits to legally recognized same-sex married couples as other married couples. So this is the beyond just denying services as a business. This would be also denying benefits to an employee who happens to be in a same-sex marriage. Would you support a bill that does that?

JINDAL: Look, let me see the details of the bill. I am, in general though, very supportive other defending religious liberty. And I think we can do that without condoning discrimination. I don't think those two values are mutually exclusive. And I think that's what this debate has been really about. I think we can have religious liberty without having discrimination. I think it's possible to have both. And it's desirable to have both in our society.

Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Apr 5, 2015

On War & Peace: No deal with Iran that lets them become a nuclear power

Jindal has recently jumped aggressively into foreign affairs--not natural territory for the governor. This week, for instance, Jindal trumpeted the fact that he had "signed on" to a letter that 47 Republican senators had sent to the Iranian government seeking to undermine a potential deal to limit Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Then, at last, a slight stroke of good luck. Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized the letter--and maybe, implicitly, Jindal--on Twitter. "No one considering running for commander-in-chief should be signing on," she wrote.

Jindal seized the moment. "@HillaryClinton No one who allows Iran to become a nuclear power should consider running," he tweeted back. He was in the conversation. "News Alert: Bobby Jindal and Hillary Clinton tussle on Twitter," Jindal's political advisers wrote in a news release.

To Jindal's advisers, there is a method in all this activity: Jindal is not searching for a political identity. He is showing his range.

Source: Wash. Post 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Mar 14, 2015

On Social Security: Supported privatization & reform, early & enthusiastically

Jindal was for entitlement reform when entitlement reform wasn't cool. In fact, his introduction to Washington was as staff director of Senator Phil Gramm's bipartisan commission on Medicare, which developed one of the earliest premium-support plans for the program. Jindal was an enthusiastic backer of George W. Bush's plan for personal accounts for Social Security. As governor, Jindal has slowed state spending, but still faces a $1.6 billion state budget shortfall brought on in part by falling oil revenue. He can claim, however, that Louisiana is one of the few states to see its credit consistently upgraded throughout his tenure. Source: National Review 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Feb 11, 2015

The above quotations are from Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2015, interviewing presidential hopefuls for 2016. Click here for main summary page. Click here for a profile of Bobby Jindal. Click here for Bobby Jindal on all issues.
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Page last updated: Nov 30, 2021