8th Democratic Primary Debate: on Foreign Policy


Amy Klobuchar: We must work with allies, isolationism does not work

Trump always sides with tyrants over innocents. We cannot be alone, and that trade agreement was not perfect, but the point of it is, if we start isolating ourselves from the rest of the world, we are going to hurt ourselves economically and we are going to hurt our nation's security.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH Feb 7, 2020

Joe Biden: NATO will crumble if Trump wins a second term

NATO is going to crumble if we don't beat Trump. NATO is in real trouble. We need NATO for more reasons than just physical security. We need NATO to make sure that we do not allow Russia to continue to have its influence in Eastern Europe in ways that it had before. It wasn't just to stop the Soviet Union from coming into the United States, coming into Europe. It was to make sure that we did not have a kleptocracy taking over that part of the world, to unite Europe in our behalf.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH Feb 7, 2020

Joe Biden: We must keep our commitments when we make them, like NATO

I was part of putting together the Paris Climate Accord. I brought in the Chinese. I've been part of every major initiative we've had relative to diplomacy. I have not argued for the placement of major numbers of US combat troops. I have said we have to strengthen NATO to make it clear that we keep our commitments when we make them. Like we don't keep our commitments to the Kurds. We must keep our commitments when we make them.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH Feb 7, 2020

Tom Steyer: We abandoned diplomacy & allies in favor of military complex

What we're hearing here is a very long dissertation about exactly how America should be the world's policemen. When we're talking about our role in the world and commander-in-chief, we have abandoned diplomacy. We don't have a strategy and we don't have allies.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH Feb 7, 2020

  • The above quotations are from Feb. 7, 2020- Democratic Debate (8th Debate).
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2020 Presidential contenders on Foreign Policy:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Mar 23, 2020