Story highlights
Chris Christie: Obama should have owned intelligence failures on ISIS
Christie to CNN: 'Makes people a little less certain of his footing on these things'
Christie is a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016
Chris Christie, the New Jersey GOP Governor and possible 2016 White House contender, is slamming President Obama for passing the buck on the U.S. being ill prepared for the ISIS threat.
In an interview with CNN, Christie said he was “disturbed” by the fact that Obama told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that the director of national intelligence admitted “they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria.”
“It should be ‘we,’ Mr. President. It’s your administration and when you’re the leader, you have to be held accountable for what they do. I was disturbed by that. I think that makes people a little less certain of his footing on these things,” Christie told CNN.
“He’s the president and he needs to be accountable and I hope that he says that and corrects what I hope was a misstatement,” Christie added.
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The governor argued that Obama must “come up with a plan that helps bring the world together to fight this fight.”
When pressed on the fact that the president has in fact gotten a coalition of Arab countries together to help the U.S. in airstrikes, Christie responded that he doesn’t think he has a “complete plan.”
“Listen, as I’ve shown before, if I think the president is doing something well I don’t hesitate to say that he is,” Christie said. “But I think the jury is still out on this because we shouldn’t be in this position to begin with.”
Chris Christie builds profile as he eyes 2016 presidential run
As the governor considers a run for president himself, he has been expanding his studies and rhetoric to include more about foreign policy. Unlike senators contemplating white house campaigns, questions about U.S. policy in the Middle East are not in Christie’s daily wheelhouse as chief executive of New Jersey.
What is noteworthy about Christie’s criticism of the president on ISIS is that he kept it focused in an area where he believes he has experience – leadership and accountability.
When asked what he would do if he were commander in chief to confront ISIS, he quickly responded that he doesn’t have to answer that question because “I’m not the commander in chief.”
But he might want to be someday.
“But that day is not today,” he quickly responded with a mischievous smile.