The 11 dumbest things US presidential candidates have said about the Middle East

Published October 6th, 2015 - 02:17 GMT

Donald Trump isn’t the only US presidential candidate who needs to brush up on what’s going on in the Middle East. Many of the other 2016 hopefuls have also made embarrassing gaffes about the region, from celebrity neurosurgeon Ben Carson asking if Palestine can’t simply be “slipped down” into Egypt to Jeb Bush claiming that toppling Saddam Hussein “turned out to be a pretty good deal.” Here are the eleven clumsiest things US presidential contenders have said about the Middle East so far. (We’ll make another list closer to the election next year.)

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When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was asked recently what he would do to stop ISIS, he bragged that if he could “take on 100,000 protesters” in Wisconsin, he could “do the same across the globe.” Most rational people agreed that suppressing a labor union protest in America is not the same as battling militant fanatics in Iraq and Syria.

That wasn’t Walker’s only gaffe. In August, he said the US “need[s] to have allies” in the Middle East, “not just in Israel, but throughout the Persian Gulf.” Walker apparently forgot that the biggest country in the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, is the US’s closest ally in the region. He dropped out of the presidential race soon after.

During a security forum in August, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush defended his brother George Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003. “I’ll tell you, taking out Saddam Hussein turned out to be a pretty good deal,” he said, appearing to overlook how toppling Hussein has pushed the region into a hellish spiral of war.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said earlier this year that “the reason Obama hasn’t put in place a military strategy to defeat ISIS is because he doesn’t want to upset Iran.” It’s unclear why Rubio thought Iran would be “upset” by attacks on the Sunni militant group, which is battling the Iranian-backed Iraqi government.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said during a debate in August that the US needs a president “that shows the courage that Egypt’s President al-Sisi” did when Sisi “called out the radical Islamic terrorists.” Sisi, who has committed myriad human rights abuses since coming to power, is no model for a US president -- or anyone.

At the next GOP debate, Cruz claimed the Iran nuclear deal "trusts the Iranians to inspect themselves." As media analyst Brooke Gladstone later pointed out, rumors about Iranian self-inspection come primarily from a discredited AP report. The actual Iran deal calls for the presence of outside inspectors.

Before visiting Israel last year, celebrity neurosurgeon Ben Carson tried to brush up on basic facts about the country. He asked his Israeli guide, “What is the role of the Knesset?” and after his guide explained how it functions, Carson said: “Sounds complicated. Why don’t they just adopt the system we have [in the US]?”

Carson also struggled to understand the Palestinian desire for a national homeland. He said he didn’t “have any problem” with giving the Palestinians their own country, but asked if it “needs to be within the confines” of Israel. “Is that necessary,” Carson asked, “Or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?”

Ben Carson just won’t stop. In September, he said a Muslim should not be US president because Islam is inconsistent with the US constitution. Sadly, Carson’s fundraising and rankings in the polls both leapt upwards after he refused to apologize for his comments.

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump recently called Putin's involvement in Syria "a wonderful thing," adding that Assad may be "better than" the rebels the US is currently backing. Of course, even though he's not a religious fanatic, Assad has killed tens of thousands more people than all the Syrian rebels combined.

Trump was also recently asked if the Middle East would be "safer" with Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi still in power. "It's not even a contest," he replied, ignoring the fact that the human rights abuses committed by the two dictators are a large part of what destabilized the region in the first place.

When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was asked recently what he would do to stop ISIS, he bragged that if he could “take on 100,000 protesters” in Wisconsin, he could “do the same across the globe.” Most rational people agreed that suppressing a labor union protest in America is not the same as battling militant fanatics in Iraq and Syria.

That wasn’t Walker’s only gaffe. In August, he said the US “need[s] to have allies” in the Middle East, “not just in Israel, but throughout the Persian Gulf.” Walker apparently forgot that the biggest country in the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, is the US’s closest ally in the region. He dropped out of the presidential race soon after.

During a security forum in August, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush defended his brother George Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003. “I’ll tell you, taking out Saddam Hussein turned out to be a pretty good deal,” he said, appearing to overlook how toppling Hussein has pushed the region into a hellish spiral of war.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said earlier this year that “the reason Obama hasn’t put in place a military strategy to defeat ISIS is because he doesn’t want to upset Iran.” It’s unclear why Rubio thought Iran would be “upset” by attacks on the Sunni militant group, which is battling the Iranian-backed Iraqi government.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said during a debate in August that the US needs a president “that shows the courage that Egypt’s President al-Sisi” did when Sisi “called out the radical Islamic terrorists.” Sisi, who has committed myriad human rights abuses since coming to power, is no model for a US president -- or anyone.

At the next GOP debate, Cruz claimed the Iran nuclear deal "trusts the Iranians to inspect themselves." As media analyst Brooke Gladstone later pointed out, rumors about Iranian self-inspection come primarily from a discredited AP report. The actual Iran deal calls for the presence of outside inspectors.

Before visiting Israel last year, celebrity neurosurgeon Ben Carson tried to brush up on basic facts about the country. He asked his Israeli guide, “What is the role of the Knesset?” and after his guide explained how it functions, Carson said: “Sounds complicated. Why don’t they just adopt the system we have [in the US]?”

Carson also struggled to understand the Palestinian desire for a national homeland. He said he didn’t “have any problem” with giving the Palestinians their own country, but asked if it “needs to be within the confines” of Israel. “Is that necessary,” Carson asked, “Or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?”

Ben Carson just won’t stop. In September, he said a Muslim should not be US president because Islam is inconsistent with the US constitution. Sadly, Carson’s fundraising and rankings in the polls both leapt upwards after he refused to apologize for his comments.

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump recently called Putin's involvement in Syria "a wonderful thing," adding that Assad may be "better than" the rebels the US is currently backing. Of course, even though he's not a religious fanatic, Assad has killed tens of thousands more people than all the Syrian rebels combined.

Trump was also recently asked if the Middle East would be "safer" with Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi still in power. "It's not even a contest," he replied, ignoring the fact that the human rights abuses committed by the two dictators are a large part of what destabilized the region in the first place.

The 11 dumbest things US presidential candidates have said about the Middle East

Ben Carson just won’t stop. In September, he said a Muslim should not be US president because Islam is inconsistent with the US constitution. Sadly, Carson’s fundraising and rankings in the polls both leapt upwards after he refused to apologize for his comments.

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