Donald Trump's Muslim Plan Dominates GOP Undercard Debate (Video)

ISIS and the war on terror took center stage at the GOP undercard debate Tuesday in Las Vegas.

The Republican presidential candidates gathered at the Venetian Hotel for the first time since the terror attacks that shook Paris and San Bernardino, California.

The stakes were high for the four lowest-polling Republican candidates — former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki. They gathered for the CNN debate just weeks before the first votes in the Republican presidential nomination contest come on Feb. 1 with the Iowa caucuses.

Also Read: Donald Trump Urges 'Complete Shutdown' of Muslims Entering US

Here are the seven takeways from the GOP undercard debate

1. Radical Islam and Donald Trump
It took less than two minutes from the start of the debate for the words “radical Islam” to come up. That honor went to Gov. Pataki who also brought up frontrunner Donald Trump right out of the gate, saying the GOP frontrunner is “not fit to be president.”

2. Santorum announces: “World War III has begun”
As the candidates introduced themselves, Santorum upped the fear factor, declaring World War III was underway. “We have entered World War III,” Santorum said. “World War III has begun. And we have a leader who refuses to identify and be truthful to the American people of the stakes involved. The Iran deal is bad. Barack Obama created ISIS. Elect me.”

3. Candidates weigh in on Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims
Even though Trump was nowhere near the stage, his presence was felt throughout the debate. Candidates were asked what they thought of the real estate developer’s proposed plan to ban Muslims from entering the county. Santorum came out as a partial supporter of Trump’s proposal – a move that won him some applause from the crowd. But Huckabee, Pataki and Graham all opposed it.

Graham apologized to the Muslim world for Trump’s proposal. Pataki echoed a similar disapproval of the plan. “Donald Trump is the know-nothing candidate of the 21st century and cannot be our nominee,” he said. But Santorum countered that while “not all Muslims are jihadists… all jihadists are Muslims.”

Also Read: Republican 'House of Cards'? Why Jeb Bush's Trump Decoy Theory Isn't Insane

4. More monitoring and broader data collection

All four candidates said the San Bernadino terror attack has clarified the need for better monitoring and data collection.

Huckabee called for better social media monitoring of immigrants while Pataki called for limited monitoring of mosques and social media. Santorum urged for broader collection of phone data and Graham agreed. “We’re at war folks,” he said. “They’re not trying to steal your car. They’re trying to kill us all.”

5. Graham: ‘I miss George W. Bush’
Graham the king of zingers, didn’t disappoint, slamming Russian President Vladimir Putin and saying he’s fed up with the bashing of former President George W. Bush.

“I blame Obama for ISIL, not Bush,” he said. “I miss George W. Bush. I wish he was president right now. We wouldn’t be in this mess.”

The rant got a thunderous applause from the audience.

Also Read: Ben Carson Compares Syrian Refugees to 'Rabid Dogs' (Video)

6. Women in combat
After Santorum expressed doubt about women in combat roles, Graham scored huge points with the crowd with yet another one of his famous zingers.

“To women, if you want to kill terrorists, I’m your guy.”

7. Attacking Ted Cruz
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was the target of attacks during the undercard debate in yet another sign that he’s gaining momentum.

Graham hit the Texas senator for saying that he may be open to leaving Syrian President Bashar Assad in place as he poked fun at Cruz’s taste in movies.

“He says his favorite movie is ‘The Princess Bride,'” Graham said. “Getting in bed with Iran and Russia to save Assad is inconceivable!”

Watch the video of Santorum speaking about jihadists below.

15 Most Cringe-Worthy Gaffes From Presidential Debates

1960: During the first televised presidential debate, Richard Nixon refused to wear stage makeup, revealing his sweaty forehead under the hot TV lights. This made the younger John F. Kennedy look much more confident.
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1976: Gerald Ford claimed that he didn't believe that Eastern Europe was under "Soviet domain," which proved to be an unpopular opinion, as the moderator repeated the question in bewilderment.
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1980: When the moderator tried to silence Ronald Reagan's microphone during a Republican primary debate, Reagan shouted: "I am paying for this microphone!" The line became a "political home run" for Reagan. It was also borrowed it from the 1948 film "State of the Union."
1980: In a general-election debate between incumbent president Jimmy Carter and Reagan, Carter said, “I had a discussion with my daughter Amy the other day before I came here to ask her what the most important issue was. She said she thought the control of nuclear weaponry.” Carter was mocked for taking policy advice from his 13-year-old daughter, helping Reagan to win the election.
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1988: Michael Dukakis may have lost the election when he said he would still oppose the death penalty even if the killer raped and murdered his wife, Kitty.
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1988: Vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle compared himself to Jack Kennedy and got hammered by Democratic rival Lloyd Bentsen: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
1992: George H.W. Bush checked his watch and tucked in his shirt during his debate with future president Bill Clinton, looking impatient when asked about the economy.
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2000: Al Gore sighed during a debate with George W. Bush, which was widely perceived as condescending. It was so bad, aides made him watch the "SNL" parody of the gaffe before the next debate.
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2008: Hillary Clinton attacked Barack Obama for allegedly lifting lines from the speeches of Massachusetts politician Duval Patrick. She had a good zinger... that didn't quite have the effect she was hoping for. "Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox," Clinton said -- but the audience booed.
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2008: When a moderator asked Hillary Clinton if she had the personal appeal to overtake Barack Obama, the future president interjected that Clinton was "likable enough."
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2008: While illustrating a point about a Bush/Cheney energy bill that Obama had signed, Arizona Senator John McCain referred to the future president as "that one."
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2011: Texas Gov. Rick Perry shifted his reputation from budget-slasher to bungler when he blanked on the names of all three federal agencies he proposed to eliminate as president: "I can’t, the third one. I can’t. Sorry. Oops."
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2012: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney claimed that Obama didn’t call Benghazi a terrorist attack. Obama confidently asked Candy Crowley to clear up the charge, which she does, pointing out Romney's mistake.
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2016: When asked during an interview in September what he would do about Aleppo, the epicenter of the Syrian refugee crisis, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson asked, "And what is Aleppo?" That line became a viral sensation, even earning some rather funny spoofs. Johnson then made things worse when later that month he couldn't name a single world leader -- dead or alive -- during a town hall with Chris Matthews. And just to be sure this second flub would get some traction, Johnson told Matthews he was having an "Aleppo moment." Talk about about a triple whammy.
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2016: Green Party presidential candidate JillS Stein was hoping to be the answer to Bernie Sanders after he dropped out of the primary race. But answer she gave during an AMA reddit sesh put a damper on her plans. Stein, a Harvard Medical School graduate, raised some eyebrows when she took a decidedly anti-vaxxer stance: "As a medical doctor, there was a time where I looked very closely at those issues, and not all those issues were completely resolved. There were concerns among physicians about what the vaccination schedule meant, the toxic substances like mercury which used to be rampant in vaccines. There were real questions that needed to be addressed." Stein later clarified that she was not, in fact, an opponent of vaccines.
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From Richard Nixon’s flop sweat to Rick Perry’s ”Sorry oops,“ candidates have often stumbled at the podium

1960: During the first televised presidential debate, Richard Nixon refused to wear stage makeup, revealing his sweaty forehead under the hot TV lights. This made the younger John F. Kennedy look much more confident.

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15 Most Cringe-Worthy Gaffes From Presidential Debates

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