Continuing to attack Mitt Romney's reaction to the embassy attacks in Egypt and Libya, on Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie urged Senator John McCain to admit Romney made a mistake: "Was it correct for Mitt Romney to seize on that political opportunity at a moment when the U.S. Ambassador had been killed?" [Listen to the audio [1]]
McCain stood behind Romney's criticism of the Obama administration's
initial response to the attacks and added some of his own: "Look, what
this is all about is American weakness and the President's inability to
lead....Iraq is dissolving, our relations with Israel are at a tension
point. He – I'd like to see the President of the United States speak up
once for the 20,000 people that are being massacred in Syria. There is
an absence of American leadership in the region..."
Guthrie seemed surprised that McCain defended Romney, noting: "It
sounds like you agree, sir, with Mitt Romney." At the top of the show,
fellow co-host Matt Lauer teased McCain's interview by proclaiming: "Mitt Romney taking heat from some members of his own party
for his criticism of the statement from the U.S. embassy in Cairo
following the initial demonstration there." Perhaps NBC was hoping
McCain would be one of those Romney critics.
Guthrie decided to play a sound bite of President Obama attacking
Romney in a Telemundo interview and again pressed McCain: "Understanding
that you do agree generally with what Mitt Romney said, did he
miss the moment? Did he misread the moment, that at a time when an
ambassador was killed, it's a time to set aside politics?"
McCain replied: "It's always a time to set aside politics, but the
feckless foreign policy is conducted by this president....There is a
belief in the Middle East that the United States is weak and
withdrawing..."
Here is a full transcript of the September 13 interview:
7:02AM ET TEASE:
MATT LAUER: And there is political fallout as well, Mitt Romney taking
heat from some members of his own party for his criticism of the
statement from the U.S. embassy in Cairo following the initial
demonstration there. This morning, we'll hear what President Obama has
to say about that and we'll get reaction from Republican Senator John
McCain.
7:09AM ET SEGMENT:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Senator John McCain was a key advocate of early U.S.
intervention in Libya and a friend of Ambassador Chris Stevens. Senator
McCain, good morning to you.
JOHN MCCAIN: Good morning, Savannah.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: America Under Assault; McCain on Fallen Ambassador, Romney & Middle East]
GUTHRIE: Let me pick up where [NBC News national security analyst] Mike
Leiter left off. Do you believe that Ambassador Stevens was the
intended target of terrorists?
MCCAIN: I do. I think the indications of how this attack was carried
out clearly indicate that that's the case. And I'd remind you, Savannah,
that they just went through a very bloody conflict and there's
thousands of weapons in Libya. They have a very weak government. This is
their first experiment in democracy. Al Qaeda elements are throughout
the country. Their borders are porous. And so it makes for a very
difficult situation. But a genuine American hero was Chris Stevens. I
was with him on election day on July 7th in Libya. And they voted for a
moderate government, not an Islamic government. The majority of the
Libyan people are not the kind of people that attacked the U.S. embassy
yesterday.
GUTHRIE: I know, Senator, that Chris Stevens was a friend of yours.
This is a diplomat who was experienced and did not seek out the cushy
assignment. What would you want people to know about him?
MCCAIN: Well, I think the American people should know that he risked
his life daily as our representative in Benghazi during the conflict
that eventually overthrew Qadhafi. He had a keen sense of humor, he
loved his country, he loved the Libyans. And I want to assure you that
the last thing that Chris Stevens would want today is for us to just
withdraw, because democracy does have a chance in Libya and that was his
goal.
GUTHRIE:
Let me ask you about the politics of this. This has wormed its way into
the presidential campaign and bear with me while I try to lay this out
for everybody. In the early hours of this, the embassy in Cairo issued a
statement trying to distance itself from that anti-Muslim film. They
said that they "condemned the continuing efforts by misguided
individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims." Mitt Romney, the
Republican presidential candidate, seized on that and accused the Obama
administration of basically apologizing for American values. Let's set
aside the substance of those remarks for a moment. Let me ask you about
the timing. Was it correct for Mitt Romney to seize on that political
opportunity at a moment when the U.S. Ambassador had been killed?
MCCAIN: Well, first of all, the statement, as I understand it, was
issued before the news of Libya came up. It was a very weak statement on
the part of – if you read it in its entirety – on the part of the
embassy that does speak for the United States of America. They later
withdrew it as the violence escalated there. Look, what this is all
about is American weakness and the President's inability to lead.
GUTHRIE: Well, hold-
MCCAIN: Iraq is dissolving, our relations with Israel are at a tension
point. He – I'd like to see the President of the United States speak up
once for the 20,000 people that are being massacred in Syria.
GUTHRIE: It sounds like you-
MCCAIN: There is an absence of American leadership in the region, and they are very weak.
GUTHRIE: It sounds like you agree, sir, with Mitt Romney.
MCCAIN: I'm saying that the statement that was made about the statement
that was made by the U.S. embassy was a very weak statement and the
abject proof – object proof of that is they withdrew that statement and
changed it later on. They speak for the United States of America.
GUTHRIE: Let me play for you – let me play for you President Obama's
response to Mitt Romney on Telemundo, speaking to Jose Diaz-Balart.
BARACK OBAMA: I have observed that there's a tendency to shoot before
you aim, as I pointed out. And that as president, my obligation is to
focus on security for our people and not having ideological arguments on
a day when we are mourning the loss of outstanding, outstanding folks
who have served our country very well.
GUTHRIE: Senator McCain, understanding that you do agree generally with
what Mitt Romney said, did he miss the moment? Did he misread the
moment, that at a time when an ambassador was killed, it's a time to set
aside politics?
MCCAIN: It's always a time to set aside politics, but the feckless
foreign policy is conducted by this president, who opposed the surge, by
the way. And now with the loss of so many American lives that we're, in
the words of the General Keene, that we are – we've won the war in Iraq
and we're losing peace. The situation with Iran is such that the
President of the United States will not even set deadlines. There is a
belief in the Middle East that the United States is weak and withdrawing
and that's why you're seeing various countries and their leaders
reacting. Because they have to live in the neighborhood and they believe
the United States is leaving. And this leadership is in a vacuum. And
why the President of the United States won't help these Syrians that are
being massacred as we speak is beyond comprehension.
GUTHRIE: Well, Senator John McCain, it's good to get your perspective.
And our condolences on the loss of your friend, the Ambassador. Thank
you.
MCCAIN: Thank you.