“What I would like to see the president do is talk about what his No. 1 issue on Americans’ minds today, and of course, that’s terrorism, national security, the situation in the Middle East and the attacks on America,” he said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”, The Hill reported on January 12, 2016.
McCain slammed the White House’s recent announcement that one of the seats in the president’s guest box will be left empty in honor of the victims of gun violence.
“I’d like to see another empty chair for the 250,000 Syrians that have been slaughtered and barrel bombed and starved to death and tortured by Bashar Assad thanks to his failed policy, because of a feckless policy of leading from behind, deciding not to arm the Free Syrian Army over the recommendations of his national security team, including Hillary Clinton.”
The Arizona senator reiterated his call for American ground troops to be used against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, saying that an increased military presence is needed to “go and destroy them.”
He also said that the United States is at risk, warning that “there certainly will be more attacks just as [Sen.] Lindsey [Graham] and I predicted the attacks that are taking place now. You got to go in there, and right now there is no strategy. There is no strategy.”