One of the 17 candidates for the Republican presidential nomination visited caucus goers in West Burlington this morning.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham spoke to a group of around 10 people at the Broadway Cafe, emphasising his ideas on Foreign Policy, National Security, and the Economy.
Graham stands out from the rest of the Republican field due to his hard-line stance on National Security issues, advocating for more troops in more places in the middle east and a full-scale military campaign in Syria to attack both ISIS and the regime of Syrian Leader Bashar Al-Assad.
“Syria is 10 times harder than Iraq. They have at least 30 to 40 thousand [ISIS] fighters in Syria. You’re going to need a large ground component to go into Syria,” Graham told KBUR, “There is nobody left in Syria who can destroy [ISIS] and take Assad out…and you have to take Assad out or you’re never stop this. And then we take out the Caliphate’s headquarters in Syria and then we rebuild…which is going to be a long process.”
Graham also splits from the rest of the pack by advocating for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States, saying that Republican Frontrunner Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall at the border and deport 11 million illegal immigrants is untenable.
“You’re not going to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, but felons nobody wants,” said Graham, “Democrats would agree to deport criminals. But for the rest, they’ll be given legal status if they meet some conditions. They have to pass an english exam, they have to pay taxes, and they have to pay a fine. That’s possible. What Mr. Trump says is not possible”
Graham didn’t make the main stage debate in Cleveland earlier this month. He’s currently dead last in the polls according to the RealClearPolitics Average.
