Secretary of State John Kerry said that criticism that he and the Obama administration skipped the unity rally in Paris yesterday is “sort of quibbling a little bit.” He made the comments at a press conference in India, after announcing that he’d be visiting France on Thursday.
“Before I take your questions, let me just say a quick word, if I may, about our good friends inFrance. As soon as I heard about the plans for the march that took place yesterday, I asked my team to figure out what the earliest is that I could travel toParisin order to show, once again, to reaffirm the connection between theUnited Statesand our oldest ally. And so, I will be traveling there on Thursday, and be there Friday, part of Friday. And I want to emphasize that the relationship withFranceis not about one day or one particular moment. It’s an ongoing, long-time relationship that is deeply, deeply based in the shared values, and particularly the commitment that we share in freedom of expression,” Kerry said, preempting criticism.
The President and our Administration have been coordinating very, very closely with the French on FBI matters, intel, law enforcement across the board, and we will continue to make available any assistance that may be necessary. For the United States, that relationship is a constant, and it is ongoing. And I look forward to having a chance to share thoughts with my friends inFrancepersonally, when I get there.
Then the Associated Press reporter asked him about the snub of the rally in response to terrorism in Paris:
I am wondering, one, if you think that that criticism is fair and, whether you do or not, whether or not it was a mistake for the Administration not to send a high-level delegation to some — to an event that attracted so many world leaders and so many people. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Matt, let me just say, as I said before, theUnited States has been deeply engaged with France from the moment this horrific event took place. I personally — I think I must have been one of the first people in the world to have gone out publicly and spoken to the people of France about this, to our shock and horror and our very, very strong connection with the French at that moment. And the President also went out within hours and spoke about it.
And we have offered, from the first moment, our intel, our law enforcement, and all of our efforts. And I really think this is sort of quibbling a little bit, in the sense that our Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, was there in March. Our ambassador was there in March. Many people from the embassy were there in March. And I believe that, as everybody knows, I have been here inIndiafor a prior planned event. I would have personally very much wanted to have been there, but couldn’t do so because of the commitment that I had here, and that’s important to keep those kinds of commitments. But that is why I am going there on the way home, to make it crystal clear how passionately we feel about the events that have taken place there. And I don’t think the people ofFrancehave any doubt aboutAmerica’s understanding of what happened, about our personal sense of loss, and our deep commitment to the people ofFrancein this moment of trial.
