In the wake of another terrorist attack that killed dozens in Turkey, Eric Trump on Wednesday defended his father's call to bring back waterboarding, saying that "kissing these people is not doing it anymore."
Appearing on the Fox Business'
"Mornings with Maria" program, the third of Donald Trump's five children railed about an administration that does too much talking but not enough defending.
"How many more [attacks] have to happen before we get tough?" Eric Trump said on the show. "How many more people have to die? This is my father's narrative; it's been his narrative since the beginning of the campaign. Secure our borders. Be tough."
When asked if that should mean waterboarding as a way to "fight fire with fire," as Donald Trump said earlier this week, Eric Trump defended it.
"He talked about waterboarding the other night because at what point … are you tough on people?" Eric Trump said. "The words aren't doing it anymore. Kissing these people is not doing it anymore."
And tough is what America would get from a President Trump.
"He will be so tough," Eric Trump said. "He will go after ISIS like they have never been gone after before. He's a tough guy. He's also an incredibly compassionate guy. He believes in right and wrong but when you have three suicide bombers going in vests, wounding 200 people, killing 41 with a death toll going up, when does it end?"
On another Fox News show,
"America's Newsroom," Eric Trump was asked about his father's mood and whether a more sober approach recently is an indication that he got the message from Republicans to tone it down.
"I think he is also feeling just the attitude of the world," Eric Trump said. "You see what happened with 'Brexit,' right. You see what is happening in this nation. You see our manufacturing disappearing. He is doing this the reason he wants to fix this country. He is not doing this for fun. He wants to fix the incompetence in our government."
Eric Trump said the campaign is bolstered by the latest national
Quinnipiac University poll that showed Donald Trump was nearly even with Clinton.
"I think he is in a great spot. We as a family are in a great spot," Eric Trump said on the Fox News show. "The mood in the polls and look where it is going and where [Clinton] is going. I think it is great and it obviously makes us feel very good. It means we're doing something great."
Eric Trump downplayed the exit last week of Donald Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
"We're doing our thing. I think we're doing it very, very well. Hillary has 732 people working for her, we have 70," Eric Trump said. "We run a very lean campaign but I think it is also incredibly effective.
"Our focus is on the convention. We'll have a really amazing convention. We're going to beat her in November, make no mistake about it," Eric Trump said.