Bill Kristol, conservative commentator and editor of The Weekly Standard, has called out President Barack Obama for telling the nation to "accept" the Ferguson grand jury decision on Police Officer Darren Wilson.
"I wasn't too offended by his remarks in general, but it is foolish," Kristol said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"This is not a question of let's pick up sides … None of us knows anything about it compared to what the grand jury knows, it's a legal question. It's a detailed question, a question of physical evidence none of us has seen.
"You do not politicize controversial incidents like this, you let the system take care of them, otherwise every group will get its demagogues, The African-American community has its demagogues and, frankly, the pro-police forces could also have their demagogues, right?"
After the grand jury decision that Wilson, a white officer, will not be charged in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown — a tragedy that sparked riots in Missouri city last summer — Obama told the nation: "We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we have to accept this decision was the grand jury's to make. I join Michael's parents in asking anyone who protests this decision to do so peacefully. Michael Brown's parents have lost more than anyone. We should honor their decision."
Kristol said public figures should not be in the habit of making comments on controversial jury verdicts.
"You don't want a society in which every public figure is taking every time there's a close call or a cop shoots someone who he thinks is attacking him and maybe he is, maybe he wasn't, and have a huge national debate about it," Kristol said.
"In that respect, what the president said is wrong. We're not really entitled to even have an opinion about it in a way.
"Certainly if you're a responsible public figure like the president you should make clear that this is not your place to be weighing in … It's inappropriate to even speculate about it if you're in a position of responsibility."
Kristol also slammed the media and government officials for stoking the emotions of protesters.
"It’s demoralizing to see that so many in the media and so many public figures so irresponsible — ginning up anger and discontent to a degree that it obviously becomes violence," he said.
"And then the police force doesn't protect property which is kind of a fundamental or people which is kind of a fundamental principle of how our country is supposed to work.
"Law and order is really a principle of a civilized society and just to stand by and let these people loot small businesses, people put their life savings in and then the police force doesn't protect them. It's really terrible."
Kristol also commented on the sudden resignation of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, who is believed to have been pushed out of the job by the Obama.
"I was opposed to Hagel’s nomination and confirmation. I was right that he wasn't up for the job. Having said that, he did what the president wanted," Kristol said.
"He was thrown under the bus, he's not the problem. Obama's the problem. The White House is the problem. Chuck Hagel was not a strong secretary of defense, but he was not the problem in Obama's foreign policy."