At long last: McCain Taunts Obama
April 25, 2008
John McCain taunted Barack Obama Friday for his recent “endorsement” from a Hamas adviser, wearing his own apparent rejection by the terrorist group as a badge of honor and saying that if elected he would be “Hamas’ worst nightmare.”
McCain spoke openly about the touchy subject on a conference call with bloggers Friday morning, even as he was fighting with a local Republican Party to take down an ad critical of Obama that he said was harmful to the “respectful” spirit of the race.
“I think it is very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States … I think that the people should understand that I will be Hamas’ worst nightmare,” McCain said when asked about the group’s recent statements about Obama.
Campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said the Hamas support “is a legitimate issue for the American people to think about.”
Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef said two weeks ago in an interview with WABC radio and WorldNetDaily that the terrorist group supports Obama’s foreign policy vision.
“Actually, we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will [win] the election" he said.
McCain suggested that support stems from Obama’s willingness to have diplomatic talks with nations like Iran.
“I never expect for the leader of Hamas … to say that he wants me as president of the United States,” McCain said. “I think it is very clear … why they would not want me to be president of the United States, so if Sen. Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly.”
Rogers said plainly that “the reason for Hamas’ praise of Senator Obama’s foreign policy is his commitment to meet unconditionally with Iran … It is not only responsible to raise these critical issues in this election, but it would be the height of irresponsibility not to have this discussion with the American people.”
He called Obama’s foreign policy a “radical departure” from current standards of dealing with “rogue regimes.”
The Obama campaign fired back and issued a reminder that it already rejected Hamas’ legitimacy. Obama has said he would not negotiate with Hamas unless the group renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist and holds to other agreements.
“We want to take Sen. McCain at his word that he wants to run a respectful campaign, but that is becoming increasingly difficult when he continually tries to use the politics of association and makes claims he knows not to be true to advance his campaign,” Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.
“This type of politics of division and distraction not only lead to a campaign not worthy of the American people but also has failed to help our families for too long.”
Though Yousef does frequent interviews with news outlets, he has not published an official endorsement of any U.S. candidate in the Gaza Strip area, where he lives.
McCain later said his comment was simply a “statement of fact.”
McCain has recently been selective in choosing which controversies he draws attention to.
The McCain campaign last criticized Obama for the Hamas statements a week ago in a fundraising letter, but it’s an issue McCain had previously given a pass in public.
According to The American Spectator, McCain also told bloggers Friday morning that Obama should apologize for his association with William Ayers, a college professor who was once part of the violent Weather Underground group.
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