Republicans blasted President Obama’s “rosy” economic outlook in this week’s State of the Union address and used the sixth debate of the primary season Thursday night to tie Hillary Clinton to his defense policies, saying she would continue his “disaster” for American leadership.
The GOP field said Mr. Obama should have been embarrassed by omitting any mention in Tuesday’s speech of the 10 American sailors who’d been captured after floating into Iranian waters earlier that day, saying the president has failed to defend the strength of the U.S. military against increasingly belligerent foes.
And they said Mrs. Clinton, his former secretary of state, would continue the same course if she were to win the White House.
“If you’re worried about the world being on fire, you’re worried about how we’re going to use our military, you’re worried about strengthening our military and you’re worried about most of all keeping your homes and your families safe and secure, you cannot give Hillary Clinton a third term of Barack Obama’s leadership,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said.
Mrs. Clinton took the brunt of fire from the field, with Sen. Marco Rubio saying she has “disqualified” herself from being commander in chief because of accusations that she mishandled classified information during her time helming the State Department.
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And former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush warned that Hillary Clinton would be a “national security disaster.”
“She would be a national security mess,” Mr. Bush said, adding that her legal troubles could haunt her if elected.
“She is under investigation with the FBI right now,” he said. “Her first hundreds days she might be going back and forth between the White House and the court house.”
The candidates early in the debate shied away from attacks on each other, as the Fox Business Network hosts peppered them with questions about foreign policy and the economy.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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