Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made his foreign policy pitch in South Carolina on Friday, echoing Ronald Reagan. Walker said he believed in Reagan’s dictum of “peace through strength” and his policy to confront Islamic terrorism would include “using the full range of statecraft options.”
“I have a simple question: Are we safer now than we were seven years ago?” Walker asked the crowd of cadets at The Citadel, South Carolina’s military college. “Anyone who believes the answer to that question is yes should vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Sadly, I believe the answer is no, America is not safer. Since Secretary Clinton took charge of our nation’s diplomacy, we’ve abandoned American leadership in the world, forgotten that America is an exceptional country and lost faith in America’s ability to influence world events.”
In addition to chastising Clinton’s actions as the nation’s top diplomat and helping make Libya a “terrorist safe haven,” the governor provided more details about his policy proposals for national security. Walker publicly expressed support for preemptive measures to fight Islamic terrorism.
“We must fight terrorists abroad before they come to America. Since many of you cadets will be part of that fight, I want to assure you that we will fight to win,” Walker said. “Far from beating ISIS, President Obama is barely disrupting it.”
Walker continued to explain that the United States needs “to stop micromanaging the military and broadcasting our limits to our enemies” and that the U.S. “must do more to recruit and support fighters in Syria who oppose both ISIS and Assad.”
Walker argued that America must reestablish its relationship with the Sunni Arab states of the Middle East and Israel in order to combat Islamic terrorism. He linked Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s work at the State Department with the Obama administration’s deal with Iran.
“Hillary Clinton was instrumental in launching the administration’s short-sighted overtures to Iran and now she strongly supports this bad deal,” he said. “Her disregard for top secret, classified and sensitive information on her email server shows that she cannot be trusted as commander in chief. Her support for the Iran deal shows she cannot be trusted to support Israel. If this deal goes forward, it will be remembered as one of the greatest foreign policy failures in U.S. history. So let me be clear, if Congress fails to stop the nuclear deal, I will terminate it on day one.”
In order to protect America from external terrorist threats, Walker said, “We must secure the border at any cost.” He noted that the “FBI is investigating ISIS in all 50 states,” and that terrorists use the same trails to enter the country as drug cartels, weapons traffickers and human smugglers.
Walker also made a promise to the cadets, who he described as “the future leaders of this exceptional country.”
“You will not sign up to be nation builders or diplomatic pawns. You will be warriors for freedom. America need not fear when the select of the Corps of Cadets reports for duty,” he said. “When many of you take that oath, you will be making a solemn promise to the people of the United States of America. So today I will make one to you: If elected president I will send you into battle when, and only when, our national security is at risk, and I will send you with a plan for victory.
“If I have the honor of serving as your commander in chief, our forces will be strong, our weapons will be modern and America will be unintimidated.”
Minutes before Walker’s speech began, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio delivered a speech outlining his China policy a few miles away in Charleston. When Walker unveiled his plan to repeal and replace Obamacare last week, Rubio published an op-ed about his own healthcare policy just hours before Walker made his plan public.
The cat-and-mouse game between Walker and Rubio on policy comes as each candidate has said they would welcome the other as their running mate at the top of the GOP ticket. The good-natured rivalry between the two men could continue to heat up as they battle for position in early nominating states, including South Carolina.
