The vast field of 2016 White House hopefuls responded quickly Tuesday to the Iran nuclear deal. Republicans largely panned the measure, while Democrats ringed out support for the deal and praised President Barack Obama.
Here’s where the candidates, one of whom could inherit this deal and further negotiations with Iran, stand on the historic agreement.
Democrats
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb: “This is an important moment in terms of the future of American foreign policy. I look forward to reading and examining the agreement.”
Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee: “I salute President Obama and Secretary Kerry in this historic breakthrough. Cuba and now Iran, both good. Strong, patient diplomacy should continue to be the model for resolving conflicts.”
Republicans
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham: “This is not going to sell to the Congress or the American people, it won’t sell to the Arabs, certainly not going to sell to the Israelis,” Graham said on CNN’s “New Day.” “The goal of disbanding their nuclear program through negotiations was the right goal. What we’ve done is ensure that they become a nuclear power.
“They don’t want a power plant, they want a bomb. So every Arab nation is going to have to say the following about 15 years from now, they’re going to have a nuclear weapon so we better get started on ours.”
Graham called the deal a “death sentence for Israel.”
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum: “We’ve legitimized them. We’ve given them legitimacy in the international community something that they deeply wanted here, and they’ve done basically nothing in exchange for that. They come out of this a much, much stronger and I believe more virulent state with very, very few responsibility, in fact nothing in this deal curbs their terrorism. There’s nothing that says that they have to cease any type of terrorist activity.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: “Shame on the Obama administration for agreeing to a deal that empowers an evil Iranian regime to carry out its threat to ‘wipe Israel off the map’ and bring ‘death to America.’ John Kerry should have long ago gotten up on his crutches, walked out of the sham talks, and went straight to Jerusalem to stand next to Benjamin Netanyahu and declared that America will stand with Israel and the other sane governments of the Middle East instead of with the terrorist government of Iran. As President, I will stand with Israel and keep all options on the table, including military force, to topple the terrorist Iranian regime and defeat the evil forces of radical Islam.”
Huckabee released a provocative campaign ad last week that replays Lyndon Johnson’s famous “Daisy” ad, but instead suggests Obama and Democrats have placed the U.S. under threat of nuclear attack.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: “I have said from the beginning of this process that I would not support a deal with Iran that allows the mullahs to retain the ability to develop nuclear weapons, threaten Israel, and continue their regional expansionism and support for terrorism. Based on what we know thus far, I believe that this deal undermines our national security. President Obama has consistently negotiated from a position of weakness, giving concession after concession to a regime that has American blood on its hands, holds Americans hostage, and has consistently violated every agreement it ever signed. I expect that a significant majority in Congress will share my skepticism of this agreement and vote it down.
“Failure by the President to obtain congressional support will tell the Iranians and the world that this is Barack Obama’s deal, not an agreement with lasting support from the United States. It will then be left to the next President to return us to a position of American strength and re-impose sanctions on this despicable regime until it is truly willing to abandon its nuclear ambitions and is no longer a threat to international security.”