President Obama is doubling down on his comparison of Republicans to hardliners in Iran. In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Obama says, “What I said is absolutely true factually.”
Obama made the comment in response to this question from Zakaria: “In your speech at American University you made a comparison, you said that Iran’s hardliners were making common cause with Republicans. It’s come under a lot of criticism. Mitch McConnell says even Democrats who oppose the deal should be insulted.”
“What I said is absolutely true factually. The truth of the matter is, inside of Iran, the people most opposed to the deal are the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds force, hardliners who are implacably opposed to any cooperation with the international community,” Obama responded. “The reason that Mitch McConnell, and the rest of the folks in his caucus who opposed this jumped out and opposed this before they even read it, before it was even posted, is reflective of an ideological commitment not to get a deal done. In that sense they do have much more in common with the hardliners who are much more satisfied with the status quo.”
The full interview will air Sunday on CNN.
