Donald Trump and Ted Cruz slammed President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran at a rally on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, saying the agreement would help fund terrorism and attacks on U.S. troops while letting Iran continue its quest for a nuclear bomb.
Trump also vowed that if he is elected president, the United States would have "so much winning" and Iran would immediately return the four Americans it is holding prisoner before he even took office.
The Republican presidential candidates were speaking at the protest on Capitol Hill to encourage congressional Democrats to vote against the deal, along with Sarah Palin and radio hosts Mark Levin and Glenn Beck.
"I will say this, if I win the presidency, I guarantee you that those four prisoners are back in our country before I ever take office," said Trump. "They will be back before I ever take office because they know that’s what has to happen, and if they don’t know, I’m telling them right now."
Iran is holding several American prisoners, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and a Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, who was sentenced to eight years in prison on religious grounds.
"We will be having so much winning if I get elected that you might get bored of winning," said Trump, to cheers from the audience.
He added, "I agree, you’ll never get bored of winning."
Cruz told the crowd at Wednesday’s rally that the Iran deal, which would give Iran access to $150 billion in sanctions relief, would make Obama the largest financier of Islamic state terrorism. Iran is the world’s chief state sponsor of terrorism and funds a network of international terror proxies, including Hezbollah.
The Texas senator also called on Democrats to vote down the deal. Forty-two Democrats in the Senate have said they would support the agreement, which will allow President Obama to veto any congressional attempts to reject it.
"No more talk. No more show-boat. Get it done. Stop this deal," said Cruz.
Thousands attended the rally on Wednesday, which drew a range of activists and politicians. Other speakers included the head of the group Veterans Against the Deal Michael Pregent, the head of the Center for Security Policy Frank Gaffney, and Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson.
A consortium of pro-Israel and national security activist groups, including the Zionist Organization of America and the Tea Party Patriots, organized the rally.