The Candidates' Reactions To Attacks, In Their Own Words

Enlarge this image toggle caption Matt Rourke/AP; Evan Vucci/AP Matt Rourke/AP; Evan Vucci/AP

Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump's responses to the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey, as well as a mass stabbing in Minnesota, were markedly different.

Trump on Monday morning called on law enforcement to embrace increased racial and religious profiling as they sought out terrorism suspects, while Clinton said it's "crucial that we continue to build up trust between law enforcement and Muslim-American communities."

Here's what the candidates vying to be the next commander in chief said about key topics, as law enforcement tracked down suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami.

Trump spoke to the morning news program Fox and Friends.

Fox News via YouTube

Clinton held a brief news conference in Westchester County, N.Y.

NBC News via YouTube

On profiling

Trump: "Our local police, they know who a lot of these people are. They're afraid to do anything about it because they don't want to be accused of profiling and they don't want to be accused of all sorts of things. You know in Israel, they profile. They've done an unbelievable job, as good as you can do. But Israel has done an unbelievable job. And they'll profile. They profile. They see somebody that's suspicious, they will profile. They will take that person and they'll check out — do we have a choice? Look what's going on."

"This is one group. This is one group. But you have many, many groups. Because we're allowing these people to come into our country and destroy our country, and make it unsafe for people. We're allowing these people to come in. We don't want to do any profiling. If somebody looks like he's got a massive bomb on his back, we won't go up to that person and say, 'I'm sorry, because if he looks like he comes from that part of the world, we're not allowed to profile.' Give me a break."

Clinton: "It is crucial that we continue to build up trust between law enforcement and Muslim-American communities."

"We're going to go after the bad guys, and we're going to get them. But we're not going to go after an entire religion and give ISIS exactly what it's wanting, in order for them to enhance their positions."

On how to confront ISIS on the ground

Trump: "We're going to have to do something extremely tough over there. Like knock the hell out of them. And we have to get everybody together and we have to lead for a change. We're not knocking them, we're hitting them every once in a while. We're hitting them in certain places. We're being gentle about it. We're going to have to be very tough."

"If we would have taken them out we couldn't have it. [ISIS is] very strong. They're in 28 countries right now. These were started by Hillary Clinton and her policies, and Obama. When they got out of Iraq, this is what happened. This is the remnant of it. And it's much more than a remnant. They started in a small area, now they're in 28 countries. And I listened to Obama say we're winning the war. We're not winning the war. They're winning the war."

Clinton: "We have to smash ISIS's strongholds with an accelerated coalition air campaign, more support for Arab and Kurdish forces on the ground, and intense diplomatic efforts in Syria, Iraq and across the region."

"I am prepared to, ready to, actually take on those challenges. Not engage in a lot of irresponsible, reckless rhetoric. But to do the hard work, as I've done before. To put into place the strategies for local and state law enforcement, for an intelligence surge. For the kind of preventive actions that we need to take at home, and to intensify our efforts to fight ISIS."

"You don't hear a plan from him. He keeps saying he has a secret plan. Well the secret is, he has no plan."

On vetting immigrants

Trump: "We can't let any more people come into this country. We have people going over, fighting for ISIS, and coming back. And we know they're fighting for ISIS, and we take them."

"I've been saying this is going to be like the Trojan horse. We're letting tens of thousand of people flow into this country. They're bringing in, in many cases, vicious cancer from within."

Clinton: "Let us remember there are millions and millions of naturalized citizens in America from all over the world. There are millions of law-abiding peaceful Muslim Americans.

"I am absolutely in favor of, and have long been an advocate for, tough vetting. For making sure that we don't let people into this country — and not just people who come here to settle, but we need a better visa system. Let's remember what happened on 9/11. These are not refugees who got into airplanes and attacked our city and our country."

On combating terrorist recruitment

Clinton: "The recruitment and radicalization that goes on online has to be much more vigorously intercepted and prevented. I have been saying this for quite some time and I believe it's an important part of our strategy."

"We've got to do a much more intentioned effort, and that's why I mentioned Silicon Valley in my (initial) remarks. Not only to take down terrorist propaganda, but to do everything we can to intercept and prevent radicalization and recruitment."

"The government cannot do this without the close participation of tech companies and experts online."

Trump: "You buy magazines and they tell you how to make these same bombs that I saw. I would — now people will go crazy and say, oh, Trump is against freedom of the press. I'm not against, I'm totally in favor of freedom of the press. But how do you allow magazines to be sold? These are magazines that tell you from step one, go to the store and buy such-and-such. Simple, simple stuff. And it's devastating."

"We should arrest the people that do that. Because they're participating in crime. Instead, they say you can't do anything, that's freedom of expression.

Third party candidates

Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein also weighed in on the weekend attacks, and how to confront terrorism, as did independent conservative candidate Evan McMullin.

On CNN, Johnson said the fact that a suspect had been identified by Monday morning showed "the system is working."

But moments later, Johnson said the FBI had "dropped the ball" due to the fact that a bomb exploded, injuring 29 people. Johnson said he was "really glad that nobody got killed."

On Twitter, Stein wrote that "the explosions in NY and NJ and the attacks in MN are a heartbreaking reminder of the violence that permeates our daily lives."

"We must commit ourselves to building a world that respects and values all individuals and all cultures," Stein wrote. "We must reject the use of violence."

McMullin tweeted his general support, writing, "The country is with you, New Yorkers. Trusting the capable NYPD/NYFD to return the city to safety."