Buchanan has defended several Nazi war criminals. As Director of Communications in the Reagan White House, Buchanan urged President Reagan to make the trip to Bitburg, Germany, despite appeals from the Jewish community that Reagan not visit a cemetery where Nazi soldiers were buried. But it is not only on Jewish issues that the Republican Jewish community objects to Pat Buchanan. His policies of isolationism and protectionism run counter to the policies of a strong national defense and free market economics which Republicans believe in. While the Cold War may be over, the U.S. still faces threats to its national security.
Terrorism is another.
The ethnic and religious tensions in sensitive areas of the world, and the violence and destruction they can cause, still concern us. By the same token, shutting our businesses off from foreign markets through protectionist policies will not solve our economic problems, but exacerbate them. In today's intimately connected global community, protectionism and isolationism spell disaster. Krauthammer claimed that Buchanan shares the nativism of the fascist, and has expressed respect for strongmen like Mussolini and Hitler. Buchanan may think that the votes he has received are a vote for his philosophy and for him.