Trump chides Cruz for being ‘politically correct’ on waterboarding
Donald Trump warned that terrorists are being emboldened by the suggestion by some American politicians that waterboarding may be too harsh to use interrogating terror suspects.
“When we are dealing with these animals, we can’t be soft and weak like our politicians,” Trump said Monday during a town hall event in New Hampshire.
{mosads}“I can guarantee you this—those guys who are chopping off heads of Christians in the Middle East, and many others—when they hear we are arguing that waterboarding may be too severe and it’s not nice, they are laughing like hell to themselves and they just go further.”
Trump also chided Ted Cruz, who has emerged as his main campaign foil, for not taking a stronger stance in favor of the controversial practice during Saturday’s GOP debate.
“He didn’t like the question, you could see,” Trump said of Cruz.
“He was trying to be politically correct and he didn’t really want to get involved with the waterboarding…Ted was very queasy on whether or not he liked it.”
During the debate, Cruz said that he wouldn’t support “widespread use” of waterboarding and added that he signed onto legislation that severely limited its use.
But Cruz also said that he doesn’t consider waterboarding torture and that he would “use whatever enhanced interrogation methods we could to keep this country safe.”
Trump took a harder tack.
“Not since medieval times have people seen what’s going on, he said in reference to the beheadings practiced by ISIS.
“I would bring back waterboarding and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”
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