President Barack
Obama's speech before West Point graduates on Wednesday displayed the weak position he has put America in on the global stage, says the man who sought to defeat him in 2012.
"I think it's a particularly sad day in America when the president of the United States feels compelled to give an address saying that America, in effect, isn't weak," Republican former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's
"The Kelly File."
"If you have to tell people you're strong, then you're not," Romney said.
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The speech got a
tepid response from graduating cadets and was panned by conservative pundits and politicians.
Obama said that after "a long season of war" it is time to exercise restraint before embarking on future conflicts.
Such talk has U.S. allies calling us "timid," Romney said.
A shrinking military capacity, the VA scandal, the "reset" with Russia, and missteps in the Middle East have combined to lead friends and foes alike to think U.S. leadership is "very much in doubt," he said.
Romney joined others from both parties in calling for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to step down or be fired over the VA scandal in which secret lists hid long wait times for veterans, with sometimes fatal results.
He joined Arizona Sen. John McCain in calling for vouchers to be given to veterans so they could be treated in private hospitals.
"This is just inexecusable for the people who've served our country to have been so poorly served by this administration and, frankly, by prior administrations as well," Romney said.
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