But when it comes to waterboarding, a form of torture that involves putting a cloth over someone’s head and then dumping water over that same cloth, the former The Apprentice star said, “Waterboarding is “peanuts” compared to what they do to us”. “I would bring it back”, Trump said. “That’s a whole different level and I would absolutely bring back interrogation and strong interrogation”. A Senate Intelligence Committee report past year concluded that harsh interrogation techniques failed to produce information that the CIA couldn’t have obtained elsewhere or didn’t already have. They don’t use waterboarding over there, they use chopping off people’s heads.
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Trump also doubled down on his calls for a database to monitor Muslims and the possibility of shuttering mosques.
The significance of the remarks from Trump and Carson within the conservative debate following the Paris attacks that killed 130 people was underlined by a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that had the two outsiders holding tight to their commanding national lead over all other Republican presidential candidates. Over the weekend, he said he saw “thousands and thousands” of people cheering the September 11 attacks across the Hudson River in New Jersey, but officials there said there’s no evidence that ever happened.
“We have great people in the Muslim population, but something’s happening”. “They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down”.
“And I watched those people jump and I watched the second plane hit… It was well covered at the time”.
There have been rumors that the destruction of the twin towers was met with rejoicing among the Muslim community of Newark and Paterson.
During the rally, a protester from the Black Lives Matter movement heckled the real-estate mogul.
Kasich has aggressively targeted Trump in recent weeks, attacking his position on immigration and other issues and saying he lacks the experience and temperament to defeat expected Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and be an effective commander-in-chief. Trump had said a day earlier that he believed the US should bring back enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, because they are “peanuts” compared with the torture methods used by the Islamic State group.
When asked on ABC’s “This Week” whether he would consider running as an independent if Republican opponents try “to take you out”, Trump said he “will have to see what happens”.
Since he entered the GOP presidential race over the summer, Trump has catapulted to the top of the crowded field, tapping into an electorate discontented with the political establishment.
Trump is leading in polls of Republican primary voters both nationwide and in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire.
Trump also stoked fears among the Republican Party that if he does not capture the party’s nomination, he will seek a third-party run for president. “It’s not even a little bit anymore – it’s a lot”.
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“We have to watch and see what we’re doing”, he said, adding that Syrian refugees should not be allowed into the country at all. “I have to be treated fairly”.
