Donald Trump topped polls for much of 2015, in part because his clear position on the Islamic State resonates with many Americans.
Last month, a Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that nearly 60% of those surveyed believe the nation is "at war with radical Islam." And a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken last week revealed that voters view the Republican Party as having a better plan to combat terrorism than Democrats, 35% to 20%.
Here are ten of the most memorable Donald Trump quotes on ISIS this year...
10 Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS We Won't Soon Forget
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 1: The billionaire said he'd "bomb the s---" out of ISIS in a rally in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on Nov. 12. You can watch the video of his remark below, and here it is transcribed:
"ISIS is making a tremendous amount of money because they have certain oil camps, certain areas of oil that they took away. They have some in Syria, some in Iraq. I would bomb the s--- out of 'em. I would just bomb those suckers. That's right. I'd blow up the pipes. ... I'd blow up every single inch. There would be nothing left. And you know what, you'll get Exxon to come in there and in two months, you ever see these guys, how good they are, the great oil companies? They'll rebuild that sucker, brand new - it'll be beautiful."
"Some of the candidates, they went in and didn't know the air conditioner didn't work and sweated like dogs, and they didn't know the room was too big because they didn't have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?"
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 3: "I would do things that would be so tough that I don't even know if they'd be around to come to the table. ... I would bomb the hell out of those oil fields [in Iraq]. I wouldn't send many troops, because you won't need them by the time I got finished." Trump on his strategy for dealing with ISIS, in a July 8 interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 4: On Nov. 16 - the Monday following Friday's tragic terrorist attacks in Paris - "The Donald" said ISIS headquarters in Syria should have been hit harder...
"I've been saying attack the oil for two years. People would laugh, and they'd scoff, and they'd joke," he said. "Now all of a sudden, they started attacking the oil because that's a significant source of [ISIS'] wealth," Trump said in a phone interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box."
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 5: Trump said of ISIS in the same interview, "This is a war. They don't wear uniforms. He added that the "cancer" of terrorism needs to be stopped before it "festers and festers and only gets worse."
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 6: In our third and final soundbite from Trump's Nov. 16 "Squawk Box" interview, the real estate mogul noted that he'd "love the idea" of teaming up with Russia to root out ISIS.
"The problem is, we want to get rid of Assad, but we don't know who we're getting rid of. It's not like we have 'George Washington' that we're backing. We're backing people who we have no idea who they are."
Trump pointed out that in other countries where dictators were deposed (like Libya and Iraq), oftentimes the situation there grew worse.
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 7: "I would knock out the source of their wealth, the primary source of their wealth, which is oil," Donald Trump told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Aug. 10. "I would knock the hell out of them, but I'd put a ring around it and I'd take the oil for our country."
Fortune notes that immediately prior to the interview, "Morning Joe" hosts also ran a clip of Trump talking in 1987 about how he thought the United States should invade Iran and take their oil, but abandon our other agendas there.
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 8: The billionaire has proven anything but shy sharing his views via Twitter. He expressed this conviction on Nov. 19:
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 9: "ISIS is tremendously rich. They're rich, you know why? Because of the oil, they have the oil. That's why they're rich... They're building a hotel in Syria. Can you believe ISIS is building a hotel? They're in competition with me now. They're building a hotel - they have so much money. You bomb the hell out of the oil. Don't worry about the cities, the cities are terrible that they took over... And you kill them at the head." Trump's remarks on how he would defeat the Islamic State in an interview with Sean Hannity on FOX News on June 18.
Donald Trump Quotes on ISIS No. 10: Last but certainly not least, in a speech on Monday, Trump pointed out the Internet's major role in helping spread ISIS' indoctrination.
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"We're losing a lot of people because of the Internet. We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people who really understand what's happening and maybe, in some ways, closing that Internet up in some ways. Somebody will say, 'Oh, freedom of speech, freedom of speech.' These are foolish people, we have a lot of foolish people. We've got to maybe do something with the Internet because they're recruiting by the thousands, they're leaving our country, and then when they come back, we take them back."
Stay tuned to Money Morning for more on Donald Trump and election 2016. You can follow us on Twitter @moneymorning or like us on Facebook.
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