Politicians and journalists debated the latest setback in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the litany of scandals facing Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign on political talk shows Sunday.
Fox News Sunday: John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told host Chris Wallace the White House is “in denial” about the threat posed by Islamic State fighters in Iraq. He said he thought Obama administration officials have been “blinded by their own ideology” when it comes to combating the extremist group in the Middle East.
Mike Huckabee, also a guest on Fox News Sunday, criticized what he sees as an increasing overreach by the Supreme Court on legislative matters.
“The Supreme Court isn’t the supreme branch,” said the former Arkansas governor and Republican candidate for president.
CBS’ Face the Nation: Sen. John McCain criticized the seeming lack of a coherent strategy to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
“Reports are now in Palmyra they’re executing people and leaving their bodies in the streets,” the Arizona Republican said of the historic Syrian town that recently fell to the terrorist group. “Meanwhile, the president of the United States is saying that the biggest enemy we have is climate change.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he didn’t think the U.S. was losing the fight against the Islamic State.
“I think we have to make sure that we don’t react the wrong way to that threat,” the California Democrat said. “And we could aggravate it by sending a lot of Americans troops in. And there’s a particular risk of escalation if we do.”
CNN’s State of the Union: Defense Secretary Ashton Carter blamed the fall of Ramadi on the Iraqi forces’ refusal to fight Islamic State insurgents.
“What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. They were not outnumbered; in fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force,” Carter told CNN’s Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. “Yet they failed to fight. They withdrew from the site.”
Julian Castro, who heads the Department of Housing and Urban Development, called the House Select Committee on Benghazi’s probe of the Clinton emails a “witch hunt” and a “side-show.”
“Secretary Clinton was not in any way at fault,” Castro said, accusing the committee chairman, Trey Gowdy, of “very intentionally trying to manipulate this witch hunt” to harm Clinton’s presidential prospects.
ABC’s This Week: The Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol railed against Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster of an attempt to extend Patriot Act surveillance programs that are set to expire at the end of the month.
“Rand Paul has now decided he wants to be a liberal Democrat, undercut necessary intelligence collection, weaken the police officers and our intelligence services,” Kristol said.
Democratic strategist Donna Brazile defended the presidential candidate and his stance against government spying as a practice that violates civil liberties.
“I think on this issue, Rand Paul understands that it is right to insure that our constitutional rights are protected, our privacy rights are protected,” Brazile said. “And I don’t think, Bill, it is an issue that’s going to drive him out of the so-called conservative wing of the Republican Party.”
