March 22, 2016, will be known from now on as another day in which terrorism has shown once again that it’s one of the biggest threats of the moment, after more than 30 people were killed in Belgium.
Like expected, besides their expressions of solidarity, U.S. presidential candidates wanted to share their views on the Bruxelles terrorist attacks, since security and the war against ISIS are key points of their campaigns.
Donald Trump has some…specific ideas
Surprisingly or not, the first candidate to respond was Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who sent several tweets, followed by multiple television appearances, promoting an anti-immigration polity and endorsing torture.
“We have to be very careful in the US, we have to be very vigilant as to who we let in this country,” he said at Fox & Friends.
Still, the most shocking declaration – or not so shocking, since we’re talking about Trump here – was related to the use of torture for people who have information on terrorists.
“If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding,” he said at NBC’s Today Show. “You have to get the information from people.”
Ted Cruz wants to monitor Muslims in the U.S.
Next in line was Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who condemned racial Islamism on Facebook, maintaining an attitude similar to Trump’s.
“We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized,” he said. “The days of the United States voluntarily surrendering to the enemy to show how progressive and enlightened we can be are at an end.”
Finally, he also condemned President Barack Obama, claiming that he refuses to acknowledge that the Islam is at war with the United States and they can’t defeat such “evil” if they are afraid to name it.
John Kasich wants unity between allies
The third Republican left in the race for the nomination, John Kasich posted a message expressing his solidarity with the people affected by the Bruxelles terrorist attacks, but also focusing on unity, as it’s the only way through which the war against terror.
“We and our allies must rededicate ourselves to these values of freedom and human rights. We must utterly reject the use of deadly acts of terror,” the Ohio Governor said. We must also redouble our efforts with our allies to identify, root out and destroy the perpetrators of such acts of evil.
Clinton launches subtle attack at Trump
Moving on to the Democratic side, front runner Hillary Clinton also appeared on the Today show, calling the Bruxelles terrorist attacks “deeply distressing”. Still, she wanted to express her disagreement with Trump’s ideas, saying that closed borders aren’t a solution, while the “dream of a whole, free Europe, should not be walked away from”, according to The Guardian.
Bernie Sanders calls to unity as well
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders offered his condolences to the families who suffered losses yesterday and condemned the attacks.
“Today’s attack is a brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy Isis. This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue,” the Senator said.
We’re looking forward to seeing if any of the candidates will now focus even more on terrorism in their discourse. Of course, we’re talking about specific solutions, not things like sealing the borders or similar nonsense.
