Obama's irritation with McCain flared up at Wednesday's news conference. | AP Photos
President Barack Obama just finished his second presidential campaign — but he’s not finished lashing out at his opponent from his first.
Obama’s irritation at his 2008 rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, flared Wednesday during the president’s first news conference since winning reelection. It was a startling moment in an otherwise unremarkable appearance — and hinted at lingering tensions with McCain.
At the heart of Obama’s outburst are Republican claims that United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice covered up the genesis of the Benghazi attack that killed four Americans. Rice has become the symbol of Republican anger over the administration’s handling of the incident — at a particularly uncomfortable moment for both Obama and Rice, who is in
contention to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
The White House explained the president’s reaction by saying that McCain and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham — who together blasted Rice at a Wednesday morning news conference of their own — received the same intelligence and talking points the administration gave Rice before her ill-fated, post-Benghazi turn on the Sunday morning talk shows. The two knew exactly why Rice said what she did, White House aides said.
But the subtext was just as important as Obama’s actual words: This was the man he beat in 2008. Despite a public rapprochement, they’ve never been close. McCain is fighting this round with Graham, his closest ally in the Senate, and New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte, a rising star in the Republican Party. And their target is a woman who is close to Obama.
The Senate will decide on Obama’s nominee. And while Obama wouldn’t comment on whom he’s considering, he made clear he wouldn’t back down on Rice simply because Republicans object.
“If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me,” Obama said. “And I’m happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi, and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received, and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous.”
Rice, previously a relatively low-profile administration official, has been at the center of Republicans’ Benghazi cross hairs since her Sept. 16 turn on the Sunday talk shows. She repeated White House talking points and information delivered from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, arguing that the death of Libya Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others could be blamed on an anti-Islamic video posted to YouTube.
Obama appeared to relish defending Rice’s honor.
“When they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she’s an easy target, then they’ve got a problem with me,” he said.
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