In 2014, then-Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) rose to the floor of the U.S. Senate to give a 24-minute speech denouncing Antony Blinken, nominated by President Barack Obama to be Deputy Secretary of State, as “dangerous to America.”
The speech is gaining attention again in conservative media circles in the wake of Blinken’s trip to the Middle East, in which he reportedly told Israel that it lacked “credit” to remove Hamas from the Gaza Strip, a goal the U.S. had supported in public.
McCain, known (and criticized) as a foreign policy hawk, said that he usually did not oppose presidential nominees, even from the opposing party, because “elections have consequences,” and the commander-in-chief generally had the right to pick his own team.
C-SPANHowever, he said, Blinken had repeatedly misled the public about the Obama administration’s commitment to stated foreign policy goals, and had backed policies that turned out to be disastrous, such as the hasty withdrawal from Iraq in 2011.
McCain faulted Blinken for a variety of other policies: weak negotiations with Iran toward a nuclear deal; the abandonment of Syrian civilians to genocide by dictator Bashar al-Assad; and meager support for Ukraine, which had been invaded by Russia.
He said that Blinken’s pronouncements on Iraq — where the administration had ignored advice to leave a residual force, a decision that created room for the rise of the so-called “Islamic state,” or ISIS — were either dishonest, or ignorant.
He concluded: “And now we are going to promote this individual [Blinken] … Not only is Mr. Blinken unqualified, but he is, I believe, a threat to the traditional interests and values that embody the United States of America.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
