This is a developing story.
US presidential candidates were quick to react to the terrorist attacks in Brussels that killed at least 31 people this morning (March 22). Republican frontrunner Donald Trump called Brussels a “disaster city,” vowed to introduce interrogation methods harsher than waterboarding, and reiterated his call to ban Muslim immigration to the United States.
“We’re taking in people who could be ISIS, they could be ISIS-related. Brussels is an amazing example, it was a beautiful city, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And now you look at it, and it’s a disaster,” he told Fox and Friends. “Zero crime, and now it’s a disaster city. It’s a total disaster and we have to be very careful… as to who we allow into this country.”
On NBC, Trump said: ”Belgium is no longer Belgium,” and that “Belgium is a horror show right now. This all happened because frankly there’s no assimilation. They are not assimilating for whatever reason. They don’t want laws that we have, they want Sharia law, and you say to yourself, at what point, how much of this do you take?”
“We can’t be soft and weak,” he added, criticizing ”liberal” laws that limit interrogation techniques. “Waterboarding would be fine and if they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding.”
Ted Cruz issued a statement on Facebook, in which he took the opportunity to bash Barack Obama.
“Radical Islam is at war with us,” he said. “For over seven years we have had a president who refuses to acknowledge this reality. And the truth is, we can never hope to defeat this evil so long as we refuse to even name it. That ends on January 20, 2017, when I am sworn in as president.”
Hillary Clinton said on the Today Show: “It’s unrealistic to say we’re going to completely shut down our borders.”
Bernie Sanders issued a statement offering condolences to the families of the victims after ISIL claimed responsibility for the attacks.”We stand with our European allies to offer any necessary assistance in these difficult times,” he said. “Today’s attack is a brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy ISIS. This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue.”
John Kasich offered his thoughts and prayers: