Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he is certain Iran will use a nuclear weapon to wage war, suggesting it is the mentality behind the regime which makes it a greater threat than other nuclear-armed nations.
In an interview with Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon on the evening of the first GOP presidential debate, the former Pennsylvania senator said, “the greatest security threat to our country is a nuclear Iran.” He elaborated that Iran is run by a radical theocracy and unlike other nuclear powers, they “would actually use this nuclear weapon. That’s the difference and people don’t understand it because they don’t understand the theology behind these leaders.” Santorum said he would make this his first priority if he becomes president.
It has been suggested that Iran’s goals are not so different from those of the Islamic State. While ISIS seeks the creation and expansion of an Islamic Caliphate where their twisted version of Sunni Islam reigns supreme, the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran seeks to export their own version of revolution and to gain ultimate control over the Middle East.
“Ronald Reagan was well-known because he lectured all over the nation about communism,” Santorum said. “I’ve lectured all over the country about the threats of radical Islam, in particular [about] Iran with a nuclear weapon. There was nobody better, to be in the White House in 1980 than Ronald Reagan. And there’s no one better to confront Iran as a nuclear power than Rick Santorum,” he said.
On the issue of America’s stifled economy, Santorum referred to his 2020 Perfect Vision for America Plan, which calls for the repatriation of $2 trillion in funds that is sitting in overseas accounts. He said American-based manufacturers cannot bring these funds back because they know they will be taxed up to 40 percent if they do.
“If you bring it back, we’ll charge you seven percent, not 40, and we’ll see trillions of dollars come back into this country and invest in plant equipment, put people back to work [and] solidify that base of the economy so people can rise again,” Santorum promised.
Several members of the Republican Party are pushing to raise the caps on the number of H1-B visas in America which has resulted in hoards of U.S. workers being replaced by cheaper, foreign labor. Often times, these workers are forced to train their foreign replacements.
Santorum said that America’s donor class and business community are “all for open borders” and support comprehensive immigration reform because they see people as “commodities” and are seeking to maximize their profits.
Taking a dig at fellow Republican candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Santorum said that despite his public rhetoric, Trump is not strong on immigration. “In fact, he wants more people to come to this country. He wants anybody who is in this country that ‘merits it’ to be able to stay. Folks, that’s not a strong immigration position.”
As for Cruz, Santorum said “he wants to double the number of legal immigrants in this country” and that he wants to “quintuple” the number of hH1-B visas holding immigrants in the United States.”
“Everybody says they’re tough on the border but they’re not for helping the American worker,” Santorum said.
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