The second-tier candidates were given an hour today from 5 to 6 eastern time. I will be live-tweeting the top tier at 9 pm Eastern.
I am live-tweeting those debates now — follow here.
5-6 p.m. ET – Republican Presidential Candidates Debate (bottom seven candidates), live from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland
8:50-11 p.m. ET – Republican Presidential Candidates Debate (top ten candidates), live from Cleveland
Jeb Bush, Former governor of Florida
Son of former president George H.W. Bush
“[Islam has] been hijacked by people who have an ideology that wants to destroy Western civilization, and they’re barbarians.” Bush is a weak sister, not capable of handling what’s coming.
Ben Carson, Political activist and neurosurgeon
Famous for criticizing President Obama’s healthcare plan
Sees the war with Islamic extremism as ideological in nature.
Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey
As governor of New Jersey, Christie has had warm relationships with known jihadists and Islamic supremacists, including an imam with ties to Hamas. Christie has called those concerned with sharia in America, “crazies.” This “sharia-law business is crap . . . and I’m tired of dealing with the crazies!”
Ted Cruz, Senator from Texas
A nuclear-armed Iran is “the single greatest National security threat” today. For my money the best candidate on this issue. Cruz said the U.S. cannot defeat jihad if it doesn’t identify it. “It is a bizarre, Orwellian double-speak that this is a president who will not utter the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism,” Cruz said.
The Republican senator noted that Obama called the terror attack in Paris “a random act of violence.” “When radical Islamists go in with butcher knives to a kosher deli to murder Jews because of their Jewish faith, it’s not random,” Cruz said. “It is naked anti-Semitism.” Cruz said that Iran is America’s no. 1 security threat, while radical Islam ranks second and Russia places third.
Carly Fiorina, Former CEO of Hewlett Packard
“I believe that terrorists who kill in the name of Islam are subverting that religion.” She’s done.
Jim Gilmore, Former governor of Virginia. U.S. Army intelligence officer; served a three-year tour in West Germany as a counterintelligence agent
Gilmore endorsed an award given to Jamal Barzinji, an Islamist radical investigated for links to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Enough said.
Lindsey Graham, Senator from South Carolina, Former Congressman from South Carolina
“You’ll never have peace with radical Islam … They want a master religion for the world like the Nazis wanted a master race.”
Mike Huckabee, Former governor of Arkansas
“The Bush administration has never adequately explained the theology and ideology behind Islamic terrorism or convinced us of its ruthless fanaticism. The first rule of war is ‘know your enemy,’ and most Americans do not know theirs.” Huckabee is a strong contender on this.
Bobby Jindal, Louisiana Governor, Former Louisiana Congressman
Views the conflict as ideological and defines the enemy as ‘all forms of radical Islam’ and sharia law. Jindal is one of the best on this issue.
John Kasich, Two-term Governor of Ohio Former Ohio Congressman
U.S. should send ground forces to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group with an international coalition
George Pataki, Former governor of New York
Opposes the nuclear deal with Iran, saying the regime is ‘as trustworthy as a snake in a basket.’
Rand Paul, Senator from Kentucky
“We must understand that a hatred of our values exists, and acknowledge that interventions in foreign countries may well exacerbate this hatred.” His isolationism anti-Israel positions make his a most undesirable choice.
Rick Perry, Former governor of Texas
“To every extremist, it has to be made clear: we will not allow you to exploit our tolerance, so that you can import your intolerance.” Any yet he instituted an embarrassing pro-Islamic curriculum in Texas public schools.
Marco Rubio, Senator from Florida
“There is no greater risk to this country than the risk posed by radical Islamic terrorists … We need to make it unmistakably clear that we will take whatever it takes for however long it takes to defeat radical Islamic terrorism.
Rick Santorum, Former Senator from Pennsylvania
“Terrorism is a tactic that is not an ideology. [You have to] identify the ideology … and realize that’s their motivation.”
Donald Trump, Billionaire real estate mogul and president of the Trump Organization
“I say that you can defeat ISIS by taking their wealth. Take back the oil. Once you go over and take back that oil, they have nothing. ” Which is nonsense. In the wake of the jihadis’ assassination attempts on my colleagues and me, Trump attacked me repeatedly over the Garland free speech event. Trump is pre-eminently unqualified to fight the gravest threat to our national security. If you don’t understand the elemental principle of free speech, you cannot properly defend this nation.
Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin
“U.S. strategy against Islamism must target the radical Islamic ideology and not just the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda terrorist groups ”
Sources: Clarion, News reprots, Atlas Shrugs