The Republican presidential candidate also promised to “secure the border once and for all,” to shrink the size of government and revive and rebuild the military.

At a standing-room-only appearance Sunday evening at a spaghetti supper in American Legion Post 26, 702 W. 35th St., Jindal, accompanied by his wife, Supriya Jolly, discussed his candidacy to thunderous applause and standing ovations.

He said that a lot of the other presidential candidates are “talkers,” but that he is a “doer.”

“There’s a talker in the White House,” said Jindal, who said he has a “proven track record.” In Louisiana he said, he cut the budget by 26 percent and now has 30,000 fewer bureaucrats.

He said he wants to get in front of the voters. “They want to pick their own candidate,” he said. Every Republican candidate, he said, “is going to say a lot of the same things,” but he will do what he says, he promised.

He criticized President Barack Obama several times. “We will protect our children from Oreo cookies and popcorn, if he will protect us from radical terrorists,” he said. “Thank God General Patton and Eisenhower didn’t have this (Obama’s) attitude in World War II.”

He also criticized fellow Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush for discussing losing the primary to win the general election. “That’s the establishment saying we’ve got to hide our views,” Jindal said.

His other talking points included:

• “We happen to believe gun control is being able to hit your target,” he said.

• “The United States didn’t create religious liberty. Religious liberty created the United States of America.”

• He said Hillary Clinton and Obama “have got us on the path to Socialism,” and that at least presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calls himself a Socialist.

• “My religious views are not between me and Hillary Clinton. My religious views are between me and God Almighty,” he said.

• “Marriage is between a man and a woman …. My Christian faith teaches me that marriage was created by God.”

Jindal’s parents came legally into the United States, he said. If people “want to come to our country, they should come legally, they should learn English, learn our values, and roll up their sleeves and get to work,” he said.

He spoke one-on-one to several people, including Luana Stoltenberg of Davenport, who showed him a photo of her son, Zachary Stoltenberg, 27, who is a contractor with the Air Force in San Antonio.

Stoltenberg is a member of Operation Outcry, which is an anti-abortion ministry of The Justice Foundation. Stoltenberg said she was unable to bear children because of the effects of having abortions. “I wanted to come and tell him I appreciate what he’s doing for life,” she said, and also for his support of the military.

“You raised him well,” Jindal told Stoltenberg as he admired a photo of her son, who was adopted.

When a man in the audience asked about foreign aid, Jindal said that “Israel is our most important ally in the Middle East.

“This president seems to treat our enemies better than our friends.”

Bryan LaBerge of Davenport attended with his daughters, Reagan LaBerge, who is almost 15, and McKinley LaBerge, 13, both of whom are named after past U.S. presidents.

“I really like to go to these political things,” McKinley LaBerge said.

“It’s important that they understand the process,” said Bryan Laberge, who says his daughters are home-schooled. Such events, he said, are an “opportunity for them to interact with people who could potentially lead the free world.”

“I want to be informed so I can make an informed decision when I can vote,” Reagan LaBerge said.