Trump on torture: It may not work, but 'nothing should be taken off the table'

Trump states torture may not work, but supports it anyway.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 16 February 2016

Donald Trump published an op-ed at USA Today Monday evening explaining his take on torture, because he believes "it is important for the American people to know exactly how I feel about this important topic."

The GOP frontrunner doubled down on his recent enthusiasm for torture, arguing it should be used regardless of effectiveness — and that it is only political correctness which prevents the United States from taking a page from ISIS's book on treatment of prisoners:

Though the effectiveness of many of these methods may be in dispute, nothing should be taken off the table when American lives are at stake. The enemy is cutting off the heads of Christians and drowning them in cages, and yet we are too politically correct to respond in kind. [USA Today]

For a deeper look at the torture debate, here's a definitive guide to why brutal interrogation techniques don't actually work from The Week's Ryan Cooper.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.