Potential 2016 presidential candidate Scott Walker says President Obama — and anyone else willing to run for public office — loves their country.
The Wisconsin governor, who finished second in the closely watched straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, walked back his earlier statement that he didn’t know whether Obama loved America.
“I think any person who’s willing to put their name on the ballot has to have a love for their country and their state and their jurisdiction,” Walker said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Of his earlier comments on the issue, the governor said, “my point wasn’t to get in the middle of that but rather to say, ‘I want to lift the debate up, to talk about issues that people really care about, I’m not going down that path, I’m not making those arguments.’ ”
In response to questions from host Chris Wallace, Walker said he was not pandering to those who hate Obama.The governor, who rose to national prominence by opposing public employee unions, also said he’s indeed ready for prime time, despite making a remark last week for which he was widely criticized, saying that if he could take on 100,000 protestors in Madison, he could handle the Islamic State.
“I want to make it clear right now, I’m not comparing those two entities,” Walker told Wallace, and said he had been talking about “leadership” — “the leadership we provided under extremely difficult circumstances,” he said, and that he would apply that leadership “to take on radical Islamic terrorism.”
In a wide-ranging interview, the governor also said he opposed abortion, defended certain steps he’s taken as Wisconsin governor and left the door open as to whether he would put American servicemembers in harm’s way against the Islamic State.
Regarding the situation in Middle East and whether American servicemembers should be put into the fight against the terrorist group, the governor said, “I believe we should not take any options off the table.” Walker said he would want the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before deciding, and would push for a global coalition to confront the Islamic State.
On abortion, “ultimately I’m pro-life, because that’s an unborn child,” Walker said after being asked whether he believed a woman had a right to end a pregnancy at any point.
Walker also defended his state budget proposal, which would make significant cuts to the University of Wisconsin system and the state parks. After the cuts, Walker said, the university “will be much more affordable than just about any other campus in America.”
