Republican Leader John McCain Calls White House Spokesman “Idiot”: Flays Obama For Recent ISIS Surge

In an angry reaction, United States' Republican Senator John McCain called White House press secretary Josh Earnest an “idiot.” Participating in a TV channel discussion, he slammed the official for his recent comments on the Islamic State advances in Iraq and Syria, including the takeover of Ramadi.

Participating in the Fox TV's discussion, John McCain ripped into the Obama administration members for their “cavalier attitude” on the fall of Ramadi to the Islamic State last week. “My most unfavorite is this idiot (White House Press Secretary Josh) Earnest saying, ‘Well, we’re not gonna set our hair on fire every time there’s a setback,’” Mr. Earnest may not, but bodies are on fire in the streets of Ramadi as we are speaking”, McCain thundered.

In the "America’s Newsroom”, the Senator also called ISIS not only evil but a "transcendent evil" and vent his anger at President Obama for saying ‘We’re not losing.” However, the senator later withdrew the slur on the White House spokesman after the show’s host Bill Hemmer interrupted him for the name-calling. He said he has retracted that comment but added it is still infuriating to hear someone say that and betrays everything that America believes in and stands for, McCain noted.

The GoP leader also called for a broad escalation of the U.S. military action. “We need to have a robust strategy. We need to have more troops on the ground. We need forward air controllers … We need to have special forces. We need to have more of those kind of raids that have had some success into Syria,” McCain added.

Obama Flayed

McCain also attacked president Barack Obama for saying climate change is a bigger threat to national security and alleged that the administration’s focus on environmental issues has distracted it from a serious fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, reports The Guardian. McCain was referring to the speech of President Obama at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy where he said climate change posed an “immediate risk.” McCain, who is also the Senate armed services committee's chairman became the latest leader to join the blame game over who is actually responsible for the recent gains made by ISIS, as it took control of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra and the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

Meanwhile, hinting at the official assessment of the Obama administration on what happened at the ground level in Iraq that gave ISIS some gains in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. Defense secretary Ashton Carter blamed Iraqi forces for the fall of Ramadi and said they lacked the “will to fight”. “What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight,” Carter told media persons.

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