Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Sunday he would abandon Iran at the negotiating table without a deal over its nuclear arms research if he were president.
“Right off the bat, I think you’ve got to pull back from this horrible Iran deal,” Walker told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” in New York. “It’s a horrible deal.”
{mosads}Walker’s remarks come as he weighs a possible 2016 GOP presidential bid.
He said President Obama’s tentative pact with Iran over its nuclear energy capabilities was not tough enough on Tehran’s ruling regime.
“We didn’t make sure they were getting rid of their illicit nuclear infrastructure,” Walker said of the framework deal’s failings.
“That’s not happening under this president’s deal.”
The Wisconsin governor added that Iranian leadership had a long and well-documented history of hostility towards U.S. interests.
“Iran is no different today in many ways then when I was a kid tying yellow ribbons around the tree in front of our house when that country was holding Americans hostage,” Walker said, citing the diplomatic crisis over Iran’s imprisonment of Americans there between 1979 and 1981.
Walker also said he would not stop with the elimination of the possible Iran accord.
Many of Obama’s other executive decisions deserved reversal, he said.
“You’ve got to pull back on this executive action the president took on illegal immigration,” Walker said of moves he would make during a hypothetical first day in the Oval Office.
Walker said a united, bipartisan Congress was needed for such sweeping overhauls.
Such cooperation would please Americans, he said, as it was currently rare among lawmakers.
“The other big thing is you’ve got to pull the Congress together and start talking about … big, bold reforms,” Walker said.
“I think the American people are hungry for true, big, bold reforms.’
One such change, Walker argued, was reducing the size and scope of the federal government. Shrinking its power would help everyday Americans have more control over their daily lives, he claimed.
“You need to put power back in the hands of the states and, ultimately, back in the hands of the hard-working people of this great country,” Walker said.
It is heavily rumored Walker will announce his White House intentions after his state finalizes its new budget next month.
A poll released Saturday showed the Wisconsin governor would have a distinct advantage among Republican contenders in Iowa next year.
It found that Walker gets 17 percent of Republican voters’ support — a seven point lead over his nearest competitors in the key early-voting state.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) both trail with 10 percent support each.