White House officials are “in denial” about the threat posed by Islamic State fighters in the Middle East, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Sunday.
“They just simply will not acknowledge that ISIS is a threat,” Bolton told Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace. “I think they’re blinded by their own ideology.”
Bolton said countries in the region, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, “need American leadership” to fight the rising extremist movement that has swallowed up cities in Iraq in recent weeks.
“Are we really saying we are going to put American security in the hands of the Saudi defense ministry?” Bolton said.
The former ambassador had publicly considered launching a presidential campaign before announcing he would not seek the nomination last week.
Bolton supports extending Patriot Act surveillance programs designed to prevent terrorism, but noted the public uncertainty around them has been “compounded by basic distrust of President Barack Obama.”
The Senate will have just one day to move on a legislative solution to the expiring programs when it returns from recess next week.
