U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham's fiery declaration at the Republican undercard debate Wednesday that America would stop being bullied by other world powers if he is elected president.
"The party's over to all the dictators. Make me commander-in-chief and this crap stops," said the South Carolina senator at the CNBC-broadcast debate in Boulder, Colorado, featuring the four Republican presidential candidates not polling in the top 10. Graham was joined by Former New York Governor Pataki, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
Graham's forceful comments on foreign policy, the issue he's most associated with on the campaign trail, were some of the biggest break-out moments of the undercard debate.
Calling President Barack Obama "weak in the eyes of our enemies," Graham wondered whether Russia would have invaded Ukraine if Ronald Reagan were president today and why China is building islands in the Pacific.
"To the Chinese, when it comes to dealing with me you've got a clenched fist and an open hand. You pick," he said.
Pataki attacked Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton when asked about dealing with cyber attacks, saying there was "no doubt" that Clinton's personal email server was hacked and it should "disqualify" her from being president after calling the president's security on cyber attacks "lax."
Jindal started the debate by saying voters are frustrated because "nothing seems to change in D.C."
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Asked about brewer Anheuser-Busch buying its top competitor, SABMiller, Santorum said he wasn't worried about a lack of competition in the nation's beer industry, but does believe the Affordable Care Act reduces competition in the insurance market, pushing out small insurers – part of Democrats' plan to lead the nation to a single-payer health care system, he said.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
