Business Insider GOP primary debate: on Homeland Security


Bill Weld: Lesson of Iraq War: train Saudis, but no US troops there

Q: How would you handle U.S.-Saudi relations?

WELD: One of the things that troubles me about Trump in the foreign area is he claims to be a non-interventionist but he's awful quick on sending those troops. A couple of months ago he said, "I'm sending 5,000 more troops to the Middle East immediately." Well, they never got there because they must have had a second thought. And he never said what it was for. I'm not quite clear why we're sending troops to Saudi Arabia to defend their oil supplies. Don't they have any troops over there? I know they have a lot of weapons--because we sold them all to Saudi Arabia--but maybe we should make sure they know how to fly those planes and fire those missiles. I just I don't get it. Boots on the ground to another country for regime change or to correct something that we see in the other country that we don't like? That's the height of the lessons we learned from the Iraq war --we shouldn't do that.

Source: Business Insider 2019 GOP presidential primary debate Sep 24, 2019

Joe Walsh: Supports military service for gays and transgendered

[On LGBT rights]: I use the power of my public profile to go at the issue and talk about the issue and try to find common ground on the issue. I'm a big supporter of anybody--gay, lesbian, straight, or transgender--serving in the military. This is one of those issues though where when you've got strong minded people on one side or another side pushing it too hard for the American people, instead of trying to find an area of compromise--for instance, being able to use whatever washroom facilities or shower facilities according to the sex that you identify as. Fine. People in America should have that freedom to be able to do that. But we've got to think about the people sitting in high school situations--students, 17 and 18 year olds--who may be uncomfortable with that. So it's finding the common ground.
Source: Business Insider 2019 GOP presidential primary debate Sep 24, 2019

  • The above quotations are from Business Insider held the first-ever Republican primary debate on Tuesday, September 24, which was moderated by politics editor Anthony Fisher, columnist Linette Lopez, and Insider editorial director Henry Blodget..
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Homeland Security.
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  • Click here for more quotes by Bill Weld on Homeland Security.
  • Click here for more quotes by Joe Walsh on Homeland Security.
2020 Presidential contenders on Homeland Security:
  Republicans:
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(MA & NY) 		Democrats:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
V.P.Mike Pence (R-IN)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
V.C.Arvin Vohra (L-MD)
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Page last updated: Oct 19, 2019