Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal fired off a series of tweets attacking Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for saying GOP hawks have aided the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Jindal may become one of Paul’s rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
Paul admonished his fellow conservatives for “indiscriminately” giving arms abroad during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday morning. The libertarian presidential hopeful also proclaimed that these same hawks were too enthusiastic about “Hillary Clinton’s war in Libya.”
“This is a perfect example of why Senator Paul is unsuited to be Commander-in-Chief,” Jindal shot back. “We have men and women in the military who are in the field trying to fight ISIS right now, and Senator Paul is taking the weakest, most liberal Democrat position.”
Paul, who is known as being more opposed to military intervention than most of his fellow Republican opponents, said that as president he would directly fund the Kurds with weaponry the U.S. has left over from Afghanistan, as he believes they are “the only people over there that can fight.”
The senator’s comments have already angered numerous Republicans, as the rise of the Islamic State and determining who can be blamed for its rapid growth evolves into a 2016 hot button issue.
Jindal, who has repeatedly called out Islamic fundamentalism as the source of current unrest in the Middle East, emphasized that foreign policy weakness such as Paul’s “emboldens our enemies,” namely radical Islam and the Islamic State. On Twitter Jindal proclaimed that “it has become impossible to imagine a President Paul defeating Radical Islam” and that the “next President must have the discipline and strength to wipe ISIS off the face of the earth.”
While Jindal has yet to formally announce his presidential bid, he has formed an exploratory committee and participated in numerous pre-campaign events. Paul announced his candidacy in early April.
“It’s one thing for Senator Paul to take an outlandish position as a Senator at Washington cocktail parties, but being Commander-in-Chief is an entirely different job,” Jindal stated. “We should all be clear that evil and Radical Islam are at fault for the rise of ISIS, and people like President Obama and Hillary Clinton exacerbate it.”
Jindal’s tweets can be seen below:
(1/5) Sen. Paul’s comments on ISIS take the weakest, most liberal Dem position, showing he is unsuited to be Commander-in-Chief.
— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) May 27, 2015
(2/5) U.S. weakness, not strength, emboldens our enemies. His illogical argument clouds a situation that should provide pure moral clarity.
— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) May 27, 2015
(3/5) Let’s be clear; evil and Radical Islam are at fault for the rise of ISIS, and people like Pres. Obama & Hillary Clinton exacerbate it.
— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) May 27, 2015
(4/5) The next President must have the discipline and strength to wipe ISIS off the face of the earth.
— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) May 27, 2015
(5/5) It has become impossible to imagine a President Paul defeating Radical Islam and it’s time for the rest of us to say it.
— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) May 27, 2015
