Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich sparred over how to push back against the Obama administration’s deal with Iran, which they both agreed was ill-constructed.
At the second GOP presidential debate, moderator Jake Tapper asked Cruz about the Ohio governor’s criticism that anyone promising to rip up the deal was “playing to a crowd” and “inexperienced.” Cruz replied by reiterating his promise to undo the deal on his first day in office.
“Weakness is provocative and this Iranian nuclear deal is nothing short of catastrophic,” Cruz said. “You better believe it. If I am elected president, on the very first day in office I will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal.
“If there’s anyone up here who would be bound by this catastrophic deal with Iran, they’re giving up the core responsibility of commander in chief, and as president I would never do that.”
Kasich swiftly responded that he was not a supporter of the deal, but that he would not block or destroy its implementation either. Instead, Kasich said, he would seek to see it enforced.
“You have to be steady,” Kasich said. “If they cheat, you slap the sanctions back on. If they help Hamas and Hezbollah, we slap the sanctions back on. And if we find out that they may be developing a nuclear weapon, then the military option is on the table. We are stronger when we work with the Western civilization, our friends in Europe, and just doing it on our own, I don’t think is the right policy.”
Cruz attended a rally in Washington, D.C., against the Obama administration’s deal with Iran this month, and called the issue the most important topic of the 2016 presidential election. Kasich, in turn, pointed to his foreign policy expertise as a former member of the House Armed Services Committee for more than a decade as informing his decision to urge caution on the part of world leaders.
