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Recap of Sunday Talk Shows on Foreign Policy

Jeb Bush on Trump’s Foreign Policy credentials: “Across the spectrum of foreign policy, Mr. Trump talks about things that — as though he’s still on “The Apprentice.” I mean, literally, talking about Syria, saying ISIS should take out Assad, then Russia should take out ISIS, as though it was some kind of board game, and not a serious approach. This is just another example of the lack of seriousness. And this is a serious time. We’re under grave threats again, and I think we need a president with a steady hand… Tapper: Do you feel comfortable with Donald Trump’s hand on the nation’s nuclear codes? Bush: “I have grave doubts, to be honest with you. And it’s only because of the things he says. It looks as though he’s not taking the responsibility, the possibility of being president of the United States really seriously. For him, it looks as though he’s an actor playing a role of the candidate for president, not boning up on the issues, not having a broad sense of the responsibilities of what it is to be a president. In his own words, it gives me great concern, for sure. And a lot of other people will as well.” [CNN’s State of the Union]

Mitt Romney says Hillary’s record as Sec. of State will on display in 2016: “Hillary Clinton was completely misguided and uninformed with regards to the intention of Putin, Medvedev, and Russia. And her great mistake was characterized by her pressing that reset button with a great big smile on it that somehow she though Russia was going to be our friend and ally. And she was badly mistaken and her mistaken perspective on foreign policy has led to the fact that, frankly, there’s no place in the world that I can think of where American interests have been bettered by virtue of Hillary Clinton having served as Secretary of State. That’s quite an indictment, whether it’s Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, Libya, Israel, the South China Sea. I mean, look around the world. That record of the Secretary of State I think will become the focal point of the debates in 2016 when a Republican nominee goes after that record.” [CNN’s State of the Union]

Lindsey Graham pledges to have Israel’s back: “I would protect Israel. I would have her back… Our foreign policy is in free fall. Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing.” [The Cats Roundtable – AM 970 in New York]

Bernie Sanders on military intervention: “I think sensible foreign policy and military policies suggest that it cannot be the United States of America alone which solves all of the world’s (problems) — militarily… I don’t want to get into hypotheticals. I didn’t say in all circumstances. But I do believe, number one, and I think that there’s a lesson to be learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, then what a great military power like the United States is about is trying to use diplomacy before war and working with other countries rather than doing it alone. At the end of the day, [a] military coalition is what will succeed, not the United States doing it alone. [ABC’s This Week]

Jeffrey Goldberg on Bernie Sanders’ chances: “You know, hope and change turned out to be harder to sell than people thought. Despair and change is probably going to be harder to sell than that, I think. There’s a top line here that you can’t cross. [CBS’s Face the Nation]

 

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