Lincoln Chafee in Interviews during 2017-2019

On Budget & Economy: Dedicated to curbing $22.6 trillion debt

His "anti-war, anti-deficit, strongly protective of civil liberties" message, culminated in him thinking it was a good idea to run for president. "I am enthusiastically absolutely dedicated to not getting us into these quagmires overseas and ending foreign entanglements" and trying to curb the "$22.6 trillion debt." Those are the particular issues he wants to make central to his campaign, both for the nomination and, if he wins it, in the general election. Source: Reason magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jan 6, 2020

On Gun Control: Distrust of government is reason for 2d Amendment advocacy

One of the issues he's been dinged for in the past by libertarians is gun control, but Chafee says he's come to think "the reason there is more advocacy for strong Second Amendment protections is distrust of our government, and that distrust is legitimate." Chafee thinks mistrust of the government makes total sense, and he does "believe the authors of the Second Amendment wrote it with that in mind, and if there is distrust of government we want to have a well-regulated armed militia." Source: Reason magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jan 6, 2020

On Gun Control: Distrust of government is reason for 2nd Amendment

[On Iraq War]: "The biggest lie in American history," Chafee says, is that "Saddam [Hussein] had weapons of mass destruction and we invaded Iraq, and we are still there and it's getting worse." In the wake of a generation grown up dealing with the effect of that lie, Chafee thinks, mistrust of the government makes total sense, and he does "believe the authors of the Second Amendment wrote it with that in mind, and if there is distrust of government we want to have a well-regulated armed militia." Source: Reason magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jan 6, 2020

On Energy & Oil: Don't deny climate change: deal with it

Troubling also to Chafee is the wave of resistance to combating climate change. Chafee described Trump's policies on climate change as "an absolute threat," saying "We have 7.7 billion people on this planet and obviously it is a fact that human activity is having an effect. We have to be aware of that and not deny it and deal with it." Source: Warwick Beacon on 2020 presidential hopefuls Sep 11, 2019

On Principles & Values: Surprised at how much he agrees with Libertarian Party

Although he admitted that the interest he received from the party was "unexpected," Chafee said that he was also "surprised" by how many of the core tenants and principles of the Libertarian he identified and agreed with--listing off a few, they include being anti-war, anti-death penalty, anti-torture, pro-gay rights, pro-choice ("Let people make their own personal decisions," he said) and being "anti-deficit." Source: Warwick Beacon on 2020 presidential hopefuls Sep 11, 2019

On War & Peace: Disarmament, non-proliferation where we want to go

Chafee said that bringing an end to war--he specifically mentioned the ongoing conflict in the Middle East--was a core reason for running. "I think the major political party system engineers it so they get a war supporter in there, and that's just what has happened it seems every time," he said. "Disarmament and non-proliferation should be where we want to go." Source: Warwick Beacon on 2020 presidential hopefuls Sep 11, 2019

On Principles & Values: Focus on pocketbook issues; be flexible on social issues

On social issues: "The most important thing is the pocketbook issues," he says. "Be flexible in some of the other areas, social issues. What we really want our government to be doing is to keep us safe. Don't get us into unnecessary wars. Get us a surplus. Don't pass on our debt to our children. Get our roads and bridges, our Amtrak functioning properly." Source: The Week magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jul 3, 2017

On Tax Reform: Ordinary Republicans vote against their economic interests

He thinks most ordinary Republican voters are pulling the lever against their economic interests. "Tax cuts for the wealthy!" he says. "What is the average person thinking when they go to vote for someone who supports more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? The average person is gonna end up with a bill, but when the economy crashed millionaires still had their homes and their jets and still did fine." Source: The Week magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jul 3, 2017

On Foreign Policy: After Iraq war, we have to repair American credibility

We have to repair American credibility after we told the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, which he didn't. Any time someone is running to be our leader, and a world leader, which the American president is, credibility is an issue out there with the world. And we have repair work to be done. I think we need someone that has the best in ethical standards as our next president. Source: Vox.com e-zine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Oct 16, 2015

On War & Peace: Calls drone strikes "extrajudicial assassinations"

He does think Hillary Clinton is far too hawkish to be president--and indeed, she's more hawkish than our current Democratic president and more hawkish than most of the Democratic Party. She supports the Obama administration's anti-ISIS airstrikes in Iraq and Syria; Chafee opposes them. Her State Department helped develop the legal rationale for the drone war; Chafee calls drone strikes "extrajudicial assassinations." Source: Vox.com e-zine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Oct 16, 2015

On Foreign Policy: Outspoken backer of Iran nuclear agreement

Chafee is an internationalist. He's not advocating for an isolationist approach. An outspoken backer of the Iran nuclear agreement and a supporter of broader diplomatic initiatives, Chafee argues that the United States has a responsibility to work with international organizations to promote peace and justice in the Middle East and globally. Source: The Nation magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Aug 20, 2015

On War & Peace: Neocon advocates for invasions are "delusional"

Chafee ripped Republican Jeb Bush for suggesting that President Obama screwed things up in Iraq. No, said Chafee, the mess was made by Bush's brother, George W. and, Dick Cheney. If Bush thinks differently, "he's just drinking some kind of neocon Kool-Aid." Referring to Obama-bashing Republicans and neoconservative advocates for new invasions and incursions as "delusional," Chafee warned that, "We just cannot have those people come back to make those same kind of mistakes." Source: The Nation magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Aug 20, 2015

On War & Peace: Iraq: There was "no evidence" of WMDs, it was a hoax

"I went to the CIA, sir, before I took my vote on the Iraq War. Listen to this: I asked them to show me all the evidence you have--'I have to vote on this in three weeks.' And all the analysts laid out what they had for evidence and it wasn't anything. I was there for more than an hour. There just was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction. It was all a hoax. That's the facts. That's the truth." Source: The Nation magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Aug 20, 2015

On Technology: Let's join the rest of the world and go metric

What he used to do: Independent governor of Rhode Island. Chafee left office in January 2015 after serving one term. Before that he was the Republican U.S. senator from Rhode Island. During the 1990's, Chafee was the Mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island.

In his own words: "Let's join the rest of the world and go metric. It's easy...it doesn't take long before 34 degrees is hot."

Source: ABC This Week 2015 interview for 2020 presidential hopefuls Jul 26, 2015

On Gun Control: 2014: B+ rating from Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

The state of Rhode Island, where Chafee served as a mayor, senator, and governor, received a B+ rating from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in 2014. The state requires background checks on private sales, has a waiting period on all sales, and requires mental health checks. In 2012, Chafee voted to ban semiautomatic weapons and high capacity magazines in Rhode Island. Source: Newsweek magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jun 25, 2015

On Principles & Values: Voted for Bush41 in 2004 as protest against Bush43

Those who know Chafee call him "Linc" for short. The last of a dying breed of liberal Republicans, he earned the distinction of being the only GOP senator to vote against the war in Iraq. He placed a symbolic vote for George H.W. Bush for president in 2004, as a means of expressing his disapproval of W. Later, in his time as Rhode Island governor during the Great Recession, he earned the nicknames "Governor Gump" and "Governor Grinch," the latter after a fight over what to call Christmas trees. Source: Daily Beast e-zine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jun 25, 2015

On War & Peace: Iraq war was on hawks' wish list; feared another Vietnam

Chafee outlined the "primary three" reasons for his decision to vote against the war. The first was his fear that it would be for the next generation what Vietnam had been for his. Second, "I had learned in the nine months of the Bush-Cheney administration prior to September 11 not to trust their word." Third, the war in Iraq had long been on the "hawks'" wish list, and a visit to the CIA convinced him "there was no intelligence" that made the case for intervention. Source: Daily Beast e-zine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jun 25, 2015

On War & Peace: Iraq war wasn't about WMDs, but changing Middle East

According to Senator Lincoln Chafee, the only Republican to oppose the war, "I never believed that the Iraq war was about weapons of mass destruction. It was this grand vision of changing the Middle East." Source: Counterpunch magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Oct 29, 2005

On Drugs: Lobbied DEA to reclassify marijuana for medical use

If you weren't told Chafee had been a Republican and just looked at all of his positions, you'd think he was a Democrat anyway (pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-minimum wage increases, and eventually pro-Barack Obama). He has lobbied the Drug Enforcement Agency to reclassify marijuana so that doctors could legally prescribe it as medication. Source: Reason magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls Aug 23, 1999

On Drugs: Not proud of trying cocaine as college student

Referring to the media's ''dogged'' pursuit of George W. Bush's possible drug use, the younger Chafee decided to be forthcoming with his own cocaine use when asked about it. ''I had three choices: lie, which was not an option, or evade it and receive the consequences of that, or be honest. And I chose to be honest,'' Chafee said. Chafee said he tried cocaine several times around 1974, as a student at Brown University. ''It's not something I'm proud of,'' Chafee said. Source: USA Today on 2020 presidential hopefuls Aug 23, 1999

The above quotations are from Interviews during 2017-2019, interviewing presidential hopefuls for 2020. Click here for main summary page. Click here for a profile of Lincoln Chafee. Click here for Lincoln Chafee on all issues.
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Page last updated: Nov 01, 2021