A top Senate Republican on Tuesday accused President Obama of being “divorced from reality” when it comes to the threat of terrorism, a day after the Obama administration was forced to reverse its decision to redact the transcript of the Orlando, Fla., mass shooter pledging allegiance to Islamic State.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who is chairman of the GOP conference, said Obama is ignoring evidence from his own administration that the Islamic State is spreading.
“The president seems to be living in a world that is somewhat divorced from reality,” Thune said after a closed-door meeting with Republicans. “Last Tuesday, he was talking about how ISIS is contained. And on Thursday, his CIA Director John Brennan testified here on Capitol Hill that the ISIS threat has not been reduced in terms of its terrorist capability and global reach.”
Republicans have been eager to switch the topic from gun control to terrorism in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando earlier this month. The gunman, Omar Mateen, pleaded allegiance to the Islamic State as he carried out the attack.
On Monday, the Justice Department released a partial transcript of Mateen’s phone calls with police negotiators. The transcript was blacked out where Mateen swears allegiance to the Islamic State and discusses the terrorist group as his motive for the shooting.
“The administration would like to talk about anything other than the threat of radical Islamic terrorism here in the homeland, going so far as to redact references in a 911 call by the Orlando shooter, before they were finally embarrassed and shamed into releasing all of that transcript,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Democrats have been calling for stricter gun control since the attack, and have even blamed the GOP for any future mass shootings.
“I think the Democrats want to talk about anything but defeating ISIS,” Thune said. “And want to take something which clearly was a terrorist attack in this country and make it a debate about something entirely different.”
