Republican Senator John McCain said Thursday that President Barack Obama is “directly responsible” for the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, because of the rise of the Islamic State group on the Pres
Republican Senator John McCain said Thursday that President Barack Obama is “directly responsible” for the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, because of the rise of the Islamic State group on the President’s watch. But he later issued a statement saying that he “misspoke.”
“I did not mean to imply that the President was personally responsible. I was referring to President Obama’s national security decisions, not the President himself,” Mr McCain said in his statement, issued as his initial comments were drawing heated criticism from Democrats.
Mr McCain, who lost to Mr Obama in the 2008 presidential election, spoke to reporters in the Capitol Thursday while Mr Obama was in Orlando visiting with the families of those killed in Sunday’s attack and some of the survivors.
“Barack Obama is directly responsible for it, because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, Al Qaeda went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama’s failures, utter failures, by pulling everybody out of Iraq,” a visibly angry McCain said as the Senate debated a spending bill.
“So the responsibility for it lies with President Barack Obama and his failed policies,” Mr McCain said.
The gunman, Omar Mateen, killed 49 people and injured more than 50 in the attack at a gay nightclub. The 29-year-old Muslim born in New York made calls during the attack saying he was a supporter of the Islamic State.
In the aftermath of the shooting, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has accused Mr Obama of putting US enemies ahead of Americans. Mr Trump also has suggested that Mr Obama himself might sympathise with radical elements.
Democrats criticised Mr Trump and some Republicans tried to distance themselves from his remarks.
Mr McCain is seeking a sixth Senate term from Arizona and is locked in a tight race. He has a Republican primary on August 30 — the day after his 80th birthday — and a likely general election matchup against three-term Democratic Republican Ann Kirkpatrick.
