Here they go again: The Republicans have resorted to spewing hateful rhetoric rather than proposing real solutions to combating terrorism. For contrast, look to Hillary. She’s unveiled a comprehensive plan to combat terrorism at home, overseas and online. Hillary understands that a successful strategy starts with a detailed and substantive debate — not poisonous, divisive language.
Donald Trump
- Donald Trump on his ISIS plan: “We’ve got to do something with the internet.” [Wired, 12/8/15]
- Donald Trump on his ISIS plan: “I’m looking to take the oil. I want to take the oil. I want the oil.” [The Hill, 11/8/15]
- Donald Trump on his ISIS plan: “I would bomb the shit out of them.” [Real Clear Politics, 11/13/15]
Ted Cruz
- Ted Cruz: “I will direct the Department of Defense to destroy ISIS.” [Ted Cruz press release, 12/6/15]
- Ted Cruz said his plan was to “carpet bomb [ISIS] into oblivion.” [Washington Post, 12/5/15]
Marco Rubio
- Salon’s Simon Maloy: Marco Rubio “took just about every position one could imagine” on ISIS. [Salon, 11/23/15]
- Salon’s Simon Maloy: After the Paris attacks, Marco Rubio rolled out “a new ISIS strategy that pays no homage to his previous strategy.” [Salon, 11/23/15]
- The Week’s Paul Waldman: Marco Rubio’s ISIS plan was a “collection of ideas ranging from the irrelevant to the ridiculous.” [The Week, 11/23/15]
Ben Carson
- Ben Carson said his plan to combat ISIS was to “make them look like losers.” [Mother Jones, 11/11/15]
- Ben Carson on his ISIS plan: “The mission that I would give our military is to destroy them first.” [Salon, 2/26/15]
Jeb Bush
- Jeb Bush, on how he would make Syrian refugees “prove” that they’re Christian: “I think you can prove it.” [CNN, 11/18/15]
- Jeb Bush said that the difference between himself and Hillary Clinton on ISIS strategy was that she didn’t “call it for what it is.” [ABC’s This Week, 12/6/15]
- Washington Post’s Paul Waldman: “When Bush is asked what he’d actually do to fight ISIS, he offers a combination of things the Obama administration is already doing.” [Washington Post, 11/18/15]
John Kasich
- John Kasich: “We must create protected safe havens for civilian refugees on Syria’s borders and enforce them with no fly zones.” [John Kasich campaign website, 11/14/15]
- John Kasich: “We have to go on the ground and in the air and destroy ISIS in a coalition.” [USA Today, 12/9/15]
- John Kasich: “We must immediately intensify intelligence collaboration with our allies in order to identify, track and apprehend all foreign ISIS fighters.” [John Kasich campaign website, 11/14/15]
- John Kasich: “I would immediately summon an emergency meeting at the highest level to begin working with our European, Turkish, and Sunni Arab allies to contain and ultimately defeat ISIS in its homeland.” [John Kasich campaign website, 11/14/15]