Chad’s Morning Brief: Obama Criticizes Cruz, Trump, and Huckabee and the RNC Defends the GOP Debate Standards
Here are some of the issues that will be discussed on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show.
Obama Bashes Republicans
While visiting Ethiopia on Monday, President Obama found some time to bash Republicans and comments recently made by Republicans over Iran. According to the New York Times, Obama said that the comments that have been made recently lack seriousness.
At a news conference while visiting this African country, Mr. Obama defended the international nuclear agreement he and other world leaders reached with Iran and he bristled at the assertion by former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas that the president’s policy would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.”
Mr. Obama said such comments demonstrated a lack of seriousness on the part of those seeking to succeed him and reflected an anything-goes political culture that rewards incendiary rhetoric over sober deliberation. Asked specifically about Mr. Huckabee’s remarks, Mr. Obama linked them to those of other Republican presidential candidates, including the businessman Donald J. Trump and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
“The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are just part of a general pattern we’ve seen that would be considered ridiculous if it weren’t so sad,” Mr. Obama said. “We’ve had a sitting senator call John Kerry Pontius Pilate. We’ve had a sitting senator, who also happens to be running for president, suggest that I’m the leading state sponsor of terrorism. These are leaders in the Republican Party.”
Obama went further in his comments by slamming the Republican Party as a whole.
But the president also made it a broader indictment of the Republican Party, many of whose leaders denounced Mr. Trump’s remarks as well. “The Republican Party is shocked, and yet that arises out of a culture where those kinds of outrageous attacks have become far too commonplace and get circulated nonstop through the Internet and talk radio and news outlets,” Mr. Obama said. “And I recognize that when outrageous statements are made about me, a lot of the same people who were outraged when it’s made about Mr. McCain were pretty quiet.”
Mr. Obama said candidates should not “play fast and loose” with comments like that. “The American people deserve better,” he said. “Certainly presidential debates deserve better. In 18 months, I’m turning over the keys. I want to make sure I’m turning over the keys to somebody who’s serious about the serious problems the country faces and the world faces.”
President Obama acts as though he is above personal attacks, but all you have to do is take a look at what he and his campaign said and did against Mitt Romney to know that Obama is a hypocrite. The real issue is that the President made a deal with Iran. The same country that supports terrorism and that wants to wipe Israel from the map.
GOP Debates
With the first debate a week away, the RNC is defending the standards used by FOX and CNN according to the Washington Examiner.
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Spicer said the debate schedule sanctioned by the RNC is the "most inclusive setup in history." Fox News and CNN are hosting the first two debates.
"Some have suggested that the criteria should be changed to include all 'legitimate' candidates on the debate stage," Spicer wrote. "But who decides who's 'legitimate'? By late July, 114 candidates — yes, 114! — had filed paperwork to seek the Republican nomination. Is every governor legitimate? How about every senator or member of the House of Representatives? Former members and governors? Statewide officials? Without using an objective standard like national polling, as Fox News and CNN will, the criteria become much more subjective."
At issue is the method Fox and CNN have said they will use to determine which candidates make it onto their respective primetime debate stages. Both networks have said the stage will be reserved for the candidates who place in the top 10 of an average of national polls. Another forum will be provided by both CNN and Fox to allow airtime for other candidates who did not make the top 10.
Critics, including several of the candidates themselves, have said the reliance on national polls rewards name recognition rather than favorability in early primary voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire. It is likely that real estate tycoon and former reality TV star Donald Trump will be included in the first debate, while former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina will not.
Spicer said the RNC is legally not allowed to manipulate the criteria for entry into the debates. He said the RNC had three goals when devising the debate process: Free up candidates to spend more time on the campaign trail; include an element of conservative media, such as National Review's inclusion in ABC's debate; and ensure that the debates are hosted in more states.
I don't have a problem with the 10-candidate limit. There just isn't enough time to have everyone on stage. Do better in the polls and you'll be on stage.Though I do think we will miss at least one or two of the candidates on the main debate.
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These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard on our KFYO YouTube page after the show and online at kfyo.com.
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