Last week we showcased the democratic presidential candidates and their views on women’s rights, the LGBTQIA+ community, minimum wage and higher education affordability. If you haven’t read it, check it out here. This week we will be discussing the top five republican candidates based on their average polling data taken from Real Clear Politics. The issues addressed in this article include women’s rights, the LGBTQIA+ community, higher education affordability, and systematic racism.
Donald Trump
Real Estate Mogul
On Women’s Rights:
According to an article by the Boston Globe, “Trump had long been in favor of abortion rights (“I support a woman’s right to choose,” he wrote in a 2000 book), before he switched his position several years ago.” Nowadays, Trump is quick to assert that Planned Parenthood should be defunded primarily for the fact that it is, what he refers to it as, an abortion factory, “The problem that I have with Planned Parenthood is the abortion situation. It is like an abortion factory, frankly,” Trump said. “And you can’t have it. And you just shouldn’t be funding it. That should not be funded by the government, and I feel strongly about that.” Later in that same interview he was asked about the non-abortion related components of Planned Parenthood. He replied, “What I would do when the time came, I’d look at the individual things they do, and maybe some of the individual things they do are good. I know a lot of the things are bad. But certainly the abortion aspect of it should not be funded by government, absolutely,” he said. However, in an interview with Bloomberg Politics, Trump also acknowledged that he would support a woman’s right to an abortion in cases of rape, incest, or personal health. Additionally, Trump has made several headlines in his treatment of women throughout the campaign. This includes his criticism over political commentator Megyn Kelly, “Well, I just don’t respect her as a journalist. I don’t think she’s very good. I think she’s highly overrated… She starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions, and you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever. She was, in my opinion, she was off-base.” Furthermore, during a Q&A portion of a bipartisan ‘No Labels’ event in New Hampshire an unidentified woman asked, “‘So maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you can prove me wrong,’ she said at first. ‘But I don’t think you’re a friend to woman [sic].’ Trump jumped in, joking with the audience of 2,000 that ‘I knew I shouldn’t have picked her.’”
On the LGBTQIA+ Community:
Unlike many other republican candidates, Trump noted in an interview with “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd that sexual orientation was not a reason for workers to be let go. Although he is supporter of traditional marriage Trump has also stated that, “You have to go with it. The decision’s been made, and that is the law of the land.” In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Trump was also asked, “whether same-sex marriage was a “dead issue,” Trump told the magazine, ‘Some people have hopes of passing amendments, but it’s not going to happen. Congress can’t pass simple things, let alone that. So anybody that’s making that an issue is doing it for political reasons. The Supreme Court ruled on it.’”
On Higher Education:
In an interview with The Hill Trump acknowledged the financial issues faced by college students across the country, “‘One of the biggest questions I get is from people in college [about student loans],’ he told The Hill in a wide-ranging interview. ‘They’re in college — they’re doing well but they’ve got student loans up to the neck. They’re swimming in these loans,’” He goes on to say, “‘I’ll see so many young people and they work really hard for four years. They borrowed money. Their parents don’t have much. They work all together and they mortgage their future…They get good marks — I’m not even talking about the ones that are at the bottom, I’m talking about the ones at the top,’ Trump said. ‘They can’t get jobs and they don’t know what to do.’ He wouldn’t go into specifics, but promised he would create jobs if elected president. ‘I don’t want to raise the minimum wage. I want to create jobs so people can get much more than that, so they can get five times what the minimum wage is,’ said Trump.”
On Systematic Racism:
Regarding the Latino community, Trump has “called Mexicans drug dealers and rapists,” while also referring to them as killers as well. He has also suggested building a wall between our two countries, “When asked how he might force the country to build this wall, Trump said in an interview that aired on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, ‘you force them because we give them a fortune. Mexico makes a fortune because of us. A wall is a tiny little peanut compared to that. I would do something very severe unless they contributed or gave us the money to build the wall.’ The 2016 presidential candidate added: ‘I’d build it. I’d build it very nicely. I’m very good at building things.’” In addition to the Latino community Trump has also threw criticism at the movement Black Lives Matter. Referring to the movement as hate-filled and disgraceful Trump explained, “‘I think it’s disgraceful the way they’re being catered to by the Democrats, and it’s going to end up kicking them you know where,” Mr. Trump said. “I don’t think it’s [going to] end up good. The fact is all lives matter — that includes black and it includes white and it includes everybody else, and we have people, Democrats, that are afraid to even say that. They’re apologizing because they say, ‘White lives matter and all lives matter.’ These are people that are unfit to run for office, in my opinion.’”
For more information on Donald Trump, visit his official website here!
Ben Carson
Retired Neurosurgeon
On Women’s Rights:
On his website Carson states, “I am unabashedly and entirely pro-life. Human life begins at conception and innocent life must be protected.” He further affirms his belief during an appearance on Meet the Press. When questioned whether or not he would be in favor of abortions in regards to conception from rape or incest he answered, “Rape and incest, I would not be in favor of killing a baby because the baby came about in that way. And all you have to do is go and look up the many stories of people who have led very useful lives who were the result of rape or incest.”
On the LGBTQIA+ Community:
During an interview on Fox News’ Hannity in March of 2013, Carson detailed his stance on marriage equality and the supposed ramifications of “changing” its societal definition, “My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well established fundamental pillar of society and no group be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in beastiality they don’t, it doesn’t matter what they are, they don’t get to change the definition. So it’s not something against gays, it’s against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definition of pillars of society, it has significant ramifications.” Furthermore, two days after Houston voters repealed the city’s Equal Rights Ordinance just last week (a measure barring discrimination based on 15 different categories) Carson was questioned by Fusion’s Jorge Ramos on whether or not transgender men and women should be able to use any bathroom of their choosing he replied, “How about we have a transgender bathroom? It is not fair for them to make everybody else uncomfortable,” Carson added. “It’s one of the things that I don’t particularly like about the movement.” He then added, “I think everybody has equal rights, but I’m not sure that anybody should have extra rights — extra rights when it comes to redefining everything for everybody else.”
On Higher Education Affordability:
According to an article on Huffington Post Politics, “Earlier this year, he dismissed President Obama’s proposal to offer two years of community college free to all students with certain income restrictions. He pointed out that Pell grants already assist the poorest students, and for other students, he stated, ‘there is a four letter word that works extremely well, it’s called w-o-r-k, work.’” The article then goes on to conclude, “Given his past statements, it is fair to assume that Carson does not favor legislation as a device to make college more affordable, instead he favors more “elbow grease” and other private sector solutions.”
On Systematic Racism:
In August of 2014 Carson went on the Washington Times Radio with Andy Parks. He explained his theory on the death of Michael Brown and how his lack of a “father figure” and “political correctness” attributed to his death, “He told host Andy Parks that political correctness is distracting people from addressing “real problems” like teen pregnancy and “all of those kids who are born into poverty and will live in poverty and in many cases will end up without a father figure in their life and don’t know how to respond to authority and end up being killed like Michael Brown.”
For more information on Ben Carson, visit his official website here!
Marco Rubio
United States Senator (January 3, 2011 – present)
On Women’s Rights:
In an interview with The Skimms, Rubio explained his pro-choice stance and support for the morning after pill, “…in the case of a pregnancy there’s a second person involved and that’s an unborn human being. When confronted with two competing rights, the right to live and the right to choose, I’m forced to make a choice. And I’m gonna choose the side of life.…in the cases [of rape or incest], they’re terrible tragedies, they’re horrifying. And luckily in the 21st century, we have treatments available early on after an incident that can prevent that fertilization from happening. And that’s why I support the morning after pill being available over the counter and I certainly support them being made available immediately for rape victims.” Here he advocates for the availability of the contraceptive and acknowledges its importance in female health. However, in 2012, Rubio was also “one of 22 senators who introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a move to repeal the co-pay free contraceptives available to women as part of the Affordable Care Act. The act would give companies the power to deny birth control coverage as part of their health insurance plans based on the employers’ religious beliefs.
On the LGBTQIA+ Community:
He has made his belief clear that marriage must be the sole union of a man and woman. During his interview with the Skimm’s, in regards to the supreme court’s ruling on marraige equality, Rubio also stated, “It was wrong constitutionally. Marriage has always been regulated by states, and that’s where it belongs.” He denounces this belief as not being an anti-gay viewpoint in a speech on family values at the Catholic University of America in Washington, “Supporting the definition of marriage as one man and one woman is not anti-gay. It is pro-traditional marriage,” Rubio said last year.
On Higher Education Affordability:
On Rubio’s website is his plan to allow more families to pursue higher education. The plan is as follows: simplify existing incentives to help students pursue higher education, equip students and families with information necessary to make informed college decisions, reduce burden of student loan debt by establishing automatic income based repayment, reform outdated accreditation system to accommodate non-traditional education, invest in student success, and modernize higher education system to fit the 21st century economy.
On Systematic Racism:
In an appearance on Fox News’ The Kelly File Rubio addressed his support for the movement Black Lives Matter. He acknowledges its purpose to bring modern day racism to light and also mentions that not all of the answers this country requires will be through government intervention, “Look, this is a legitimate issue. And irrespective of how you may feel about how people behave. They have a first amendment right to talk about this…It is a fact in the African-American community around this country there has been for a number of years now, a growing resentment towards the way law enforcement and its criminal justice system interacts with their community. It is particularly endemic among African-American males…We do need to face this. It is a serious problem in this country. There are a lot of different reasons for it. Not all of them have governmental answers. But it is something we need to confront. Because you have a significant percentage of our population that feels that they are locked out of the promise of this country and the result is the anxiety and the frustration that you’re now seeing expressed…I do think that one of the things that we have to do at the state level and potentially at the federal level is look for ways to divert people earlier on in first offenses, obviously not a violent crime. So that you don’t get people stigmatized early in life with a criminal record that basically begins to lock them out. And once you incarcerate someone, their chances of repeating offenses in the future begin to climb because you now basically housing them with criminal that they’re learning the tools of the trade, et cetera. We do need to address it. And it is particularly troubling among young African-American males.”
For more information on Marco Rubio, visit his official website here!
Ted Cruz
United States Senator (January 3, 2013 – present)
On Women’s Rights:
According to his website Cruz has, “Led the charge on behalf of 13 states to successfully defend, before the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal law that bans one form of late-term abortion, the Partial Birth Abortion Act,” and has also “Joined 18 states in successfully defending the New Hampshire parental-notification law before the U.S. Supreme Court.” In response to The Women’s Health Protection Act he has also expressed his conservative stance by stating, “This legislation being considered is extreme legislation,” Cruz continued. “It is legislation designed to eliminate reasonable restrictions on abortion that states have put in place. It is designed to force a radical view from Democrats in the Senate: that abortions should be universally available, without limits, and paid for by the taxpayers.”
On the LGBTQIA+ Community:
Also stated on his website is the claim that Cruz has, “Fought for the right of states to define marriage, without intrusion by unelected federal judges, by drafting the State Marriage Defense Act.” Furthering his belief on the unconstitutionality of the supreme court’s ruling he released the statement, “I support traditional marriage and we should reject attempts by the Obama administration to force same-sex marriage on all 50 states.”
On Higher Education Affordability:
In an interview with the Skimms Cruz expressed his understanding for students and their college loans, “I understand this first-hand….when I came out of college and grad school, I had six-figures in student loans. I just paid off my student loans five or six years ago. Economic growth is critical to young people because if we want this generation to be able to pay off their loans and develop the skills to live the American dream, we’ve got to return to an environment where small businesses are growing and flourishing, and creating jobs and opportunities. That’s my top priority.” Although he claims to seek an environment in which this generation may be able to pay off their loans in order to reach the “American Dream” Cruz voted to block a bill allowing Americans to refinance their student loans at lower interest rates last year. The website The Watch goes on to say, “Republicans opposed the bill, called the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, because its Democratic backers proposed using a boost in taxes on the wealthiest Americans to cover the cost of allowing millions to refinance their loans, political blog The Hill reported at the time.”
On Systematic Racism:
Cruz has been noted with critiquing the movement Black Lives Matter by claiming that their main objective is, “literally suggesting and embracing and celebrating the murder of police officers…if you look at the Black Lives Matter movement, one of the most disturbing things is more than one of their protests have embraced rabid rhetoric, rabid anti-police language, literally suggesting and embracing and celebrating the murder of police officers,” the Texas senator said. “That is disgraceful.”He has also attributed the loss of black lives with the vilification of law enforcement, “Cruz echoed popular conservative rhetoric, saying that crime rates have spiked across the country because police officers are afraid of protesters. The month of July was especially bloody in Baltimore with the murders of 50 people, including 45 African Americans, because ‘murderers and rapists’ were encouraged by the lack of law enforcement, he said.”
For more information on Ted Cruz, visit his official website here!
Jeb Bush
Former Florida Governor (January 5, 1999 – January 2, 2007)
On Women’s Rights:
On May of 2003 Bush, “unsuccessfully tried to get the courts to appoint a guardian for the fetus of a 22-year-old disabled woman with cerebral palsy and autism, who became pregnant after being raped by an operator of a state-supervised group home,” according to CNN’s website. The instance was one of many in which Bush demonstrated his pro-life viewpoint. Another being his attempt in 2005 to intervene in the abortion case of a thirteen-year-old girl who was, at the time, a ward of the state. However, he was again overruled by a judge. Unsurprisingly, according to Associated Press records Bush had also claimed that he was “probably the most pro-life governor in modern times.”
On the LGBTQIA+ Community:
Several times Bush has established the fact that his faith plays a major role in his beliefs, one being his disapproval of the supreme court’s ruling on marriage equality, “Guided by my faith, I believe in traditional marriage,” Bush wrote. “I believe the Supreme Court should have allowed the states to make this decision. I also believe that we should love our neighbor and respect others, including those making lifetime commitments.” In an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody he has also stated, “That he did not believe gay and lesbian couples had a constitutional right to wed. ‘I don’t,’ the former Florida governor said when asked if there should be a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, ‘but I’m not a lawyer, and clearly this has been accelerated at a warp pace.’
On Higher Education Affordability:
In an interview with the Skimms Bush stated the need for a market approach to higher education, “We’ve allowed universities to finance their big, deep, broad agendas without any accountability, on the backs of students. And outside the elite schools, 60% of full time equivalent students in public universities graduate with a four year degree in six years. Most of them have student debt….So I think we need to go in a completely different approach….it will be a market-oriented approach to align what we want: more accountability for higher education, lower costs….degree completion rates need to increase. We were number one in the world since WWII all the way to the 1990s, and now we’re 13th or 14th. So [we need] to improve degrees being completed in four years, making them more relevant.” Talking to NH1 News he has also made clear his critique of a free college education claiming that the focus should shift from “more free stuff” to reforming higher education so that full time students would be able to obtain a degree and job after their four years of schooling.
On Systematic Racism:
On August 12, 2015 Bush was added to the list of presidential candidates protested by the movement Black Lives Matter. His town hall visit in Northern Las Vegas was “ended abruptly after the Republican presidential candidate answered a question about racial inequality, and Black Lives Matter advocates began chanting as he made his exit…asked how he can relate to people living with those concerns on a daily basis, Bush pointed to his White House bid. ‘I relate to it by running for president to try and create a climate where there is civility and understanding and to encourage mayors, leaders at the local level to engage so that there is not despair and isolation in communities,’ He said.”
For more information on Jeb Bush, visit his official website here!
In about one year the presidential election will be conducted and the new commander-in-chief will be named. The candidates views on women’s rights, the LGBTQIA+ community, higher education, systematic racism and many more issues will affect every citizen in the country and our future generations. What should we do in the meantime?
Stay informed and make sure to vote when the time comes because “without an informed republic, the democracy ceases to exist.”