Sen. John McCain tells Newsmax that when he takes the stage at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night, he’ll discuss how this country “has gone astray” — and why Mitt Romney will set the right course for America.
The 2008 Republican presidential candidate also says Republicans should focus on President Obama’s record, because he won’t mention it.
Watch the exclusive interview here.
And regarding the new book about the bin Laden raid, the Arizona lawmaker and Navy veteran confirms that the information first released by the White House was false — and says the administration’s “unconscionable” leaks about the raid put lives in danger.
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In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV at the convention on Wednesday, McCain says about his speech: “Tonight I’m going to talk about Mitt Romney and how we trust him to lead this nation in very difficult times, how this country has gone astray to a degree that we’re no longer respected and admired around the world as we were some years ago, and that we’re going to have to go on a different path. That path can be charted by Mitt Romney.”
His advice to the Romney camp: “The important thing, obviously, is jobs and the economy and leadership. I can remember in the 2008 campaign it was all about hope and change. Now, in the 2012 campaign, Barack Obama won’t mention his record.
“We’ve got to focus on his record and if that record warrants another term as president of the United States. This is important, and Mitt Romney has a plan to get our economy going again.”
Sen. McCain has been critical of President Obama on foreign policy, but Romney has been largely silent on the issue. Asked if it is a mistake to avoid talking about Obama’s handling of foreign policy, McCain responds: “No, I don’t think so. Mitt recognizes that it’s jobs and the economy [that are most important] but world leadership is a very important issue and what goes on in the world does affect our economy.
“For example, suppose that the situation arises where Israel attacks Iran over the nuclear weapons issue. That is bound to have an effect on the United States. But one thing I know about Mitt Romney is he has the right instincts and the right ideas about America and American exceptionalism.
“This president, Barack Obama, bragged about leading from behind. Mitt Romney believes in leading from in front.
“Romney has made it very clear that he understands the existential threat to Israel that Iran poses, the threat of radical Islamic extremism, that for us to cut another $500 billion out of the defense budget would be catastrophic while President Obama sits idly by. So there are some very important issues that Mitt Romney has taken an important stand on.”
McCain was asked if Obama will stand with the Israelis and help them if they are forced to attack Iran to prevent them from obtaining nuclear weapons.
“I don’t know that and unfortunately I don’t know think the Israelis do either,” he tells Newsmax.
“It’s very dangerous. It encourages the Iranians if they believe there won’t be a response to what the president has said is unacceptable.
“Seems to me the president has spent more of his time trying to convince Israel not to attack Iran than assuring Iran that they will pay a very heavy price if they continue to develop nuclear weapons.”
The new book “No Easy Day” about the bin Laden raid written by a former Navy SEAL has stirred controversy with its assertion that the White House misled the country about the killing of the terrorist leader.
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McCain comments: “First of all, I’ve had the honor of knowing a lot of genuine heroes in my time. Those heroes always give the credit to somebody else, they don’t take it themselves. The initial information out of the White House, it turned out to be false.
“Leaks of information literally put in danger the lives of the members of SEAL Team Six who were identified. More leaks on a variety of issues is really unconscionable in my view. It is unacceptable to put the lives of the men and women who are serving this country in danger because you have leaks that come out of the White House which are designed to burnish the image of the president of the United States.”
McCain is sharply critical of the Obama administration’s response to the ongoing conflict in Syria.
“President Obama’s ignoring of 20,000 being massacred, tortured, raped is an unacceptable abrogation of everything America stands for and believes in,” he declares.
“We could be supplying arms to those people who are in an unfair fight. [Syrian President] Assad is getting Iranian arms, troops, Russian arms and equipment. Hezbollah is even backing Syria killing and massacring people.
"The president doesn’t even speak up for the people of Syria much less aid them. When’s the last time you heard the president of the United States say, ‘This is a terrible thing that’s being perpetrated on the people of Syria and we need to help them, we need a no-fly zone.’
“By the way, the socialist president of France has advocated that we establish a no-fly zone.”
As for Obama’s dealings with Russia, McCain tells Newsmax: “One of the things that should concern most Americans is the unintended eavesdropping of the conversation between President Obama and then-President Medvedev saying, ‘Tell Vladimir [Putin] after I’m re-elected, I will be more flexible.’
“What does that mean? Does that mean that he’s going to be even more accommodating to the Russians on the issue of missile defense? Does that mean we’re not going to help our European allies by establishing a missile defense system?
“Vladimir Putin must believe that it’s a sign that he’s going to get more concessions from the president of the United States. How could he draw any other conclusion?
“And it’s Vladimir that is vetoing the resolutions in the U.N. Security Council concerning Syria. We can’t act because America’s given over our authority to the U.N. in Russia and China. And it is Russia that says if we build defensive weapons systems, they will opt out of the treaty [reducing stockpiles of nuclear weapons], and one of their military leaders said that they would have a military response. It’s the same Russia that continues to oppress.”
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