Lindsey Graham: Don’t Confuse Loud Mouth, Bad Policy Choices With Energy
2016 GOP Presidential candidate, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), called into Kilmeade & Friends to discuss John McCain campaigning with him in New Hampshire, dealing with ISIS, the Iran deal, the Syrian refugee crisis and Donald Trump’s comments on Ben Carson.
Listen here:
Trump going after Dr. Ben Carson
Do you need energy to be president? Does Ben Carson not have it?
“Let me put it this way, don’t confuse loudmouth, bad policy choices with energy. That’s not the energy I am looking for. I am looking for a focused, determined will with sound solutions to hard problems with an uncompromising approach to destroy radical Islam…As to Ben Carson, he is one fine man and all I can say is when Donald Trump said ‘he is an okay doctor.’ Of all the things that Donald Trump has said, to say that Ben Carson is an okay doctor, tops the list. Number one, if I was going to get advice on who I was going to hire as a brain surgeon, Donald Trump is the last person I would call. At the end of the day, Ben Carson is one of the most phenomenal physicians in the history of the United States. When you call him an okay doctor, that says more about you than it does about Ben Carson.”
How did the campaigning go with Senator McCain?
“Good, we talked about getting out of debt and killing terrorists, it was fun.”
The Iran Nuke Deal
Why would democrats vote for a deal they admit they hate?
“I think they are blinded by politics. They bought into the idea that’s its either this deal or war. To be honest with you, the Obama machine, which has a life after his presidency, the Obama network, basically declared political war against anybody who would cross him. There are two things in politics, it’s one thing to lose a friend and it’s another thing to make an enemy. I think the Obama machine and his organization has made every democrat know that if you cross the president, ‘we’re coming after you’ and I think that took a toll.”
What does Russia’s support for Assad mean for Syria and America?
“Russia’s support for Assad means this war never ends. It’s a recruiting tool for ISIL because they want to take Assad out and it’s a nightmare for us because it means the war in Syria, because of Russia’s support for Assad, never ends. This is a slap in the face of the president and John Kerry. Now you have Russia intervening on Assad’s behalf militarily. The money we gave to Iran with this terrible nuclear deal is going to help Assad stay in power. So John Kerry and Barack Obama have managed to do two things, they managed to let Syria to be completely destroyed, give ISIL a caliphate the size of Indiana, and now allow Russia to come back in to be a major player in the Middle East. Well done Barack Obama.”
What is your stance on the Syrian refugee issue? How many refugees should America take?
“We shouldn’t take any that are not vetted but we are going to have to take some. I do worry that some fighting age males can get into this mix and do harm to us and our European allies. What I want to do, Brian, is to stop the reason they leave. Intervene in Syria effectively because if we don’t the refugees are going to keep coming and take Jordan and Lebanon down. Syria is a cancer for the whole Middle East and I am afraid the next 9/11 comes from Syria.”
Was it an effective strategy for Governor Bobby Jindal to call Donald Trump a narcissist?
“Number one, I am not Dr. Phil. I don’t know what makes Donald Trump tick. I am not going to analyze his personality or his psyche. I will tell you his approach to destroying ISIL is crazy. You cannot destroy ISIL by going into Iraq and Syria and taking the oil from Iraqis and Syrians to pay for our wounded warrior expenses and destroy ISIL. That would give ISIL a recruiting boom and turn everybody in the Middle East against us. From a policy point of view, I didn’t think he is ready to be commander in chief and I think this is where we should have the debate.”
On Trump’s Immigration platform…
“His solution for immigration and deporting 11 million illegals, including their legal citizen children, won’t get ten votes in the house and senate. I think the best way to approach Donald Trump and every other candidate is to say ‘what are you going to do to destroy ISIL? How are you going to get us out of debt? When you say you want to destroy ISIL, tell me what you are going to do different than Obama?’”
Does it bother you Trump doesn’t know the key players in the Middle East?
“It bothers me but the biggest deal of all is to suggest to defeat ISIL we will take oil form Ira and Syria. If anybody thinks that’s going to turn the Mid-East in our direction, away from ISIL, you have no idea what you’re are talking about.”
