http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/207845-mccaskill-dismisses-gops-bergdahl-gripesJune 01, 2014, 09:50 am
McCaskill dismisses GOP's Bergdahl gripes
By Peter Schroeder
Republicans will criticize President Obama no matter what, according to Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).
As some GOP lawmakers criticized the president for engaging in a prisoner swap with the Taliban to free U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl and failing to notify them, McCaskill dismissed it as just another chance to take a political swipe. She argued that if Obama had passed up the chance to trade five Guantanamo detainees for Bergdahl, who had been held captive for five years, the president still would have been second-guessed by the GOP.
“The Republicans would be going crazy now [if Obama passed on the deal]. We saved this man’s life,” she said on “Fox News Sunday.”
McCaskill also pointed to the GOP's continued outrage over the Benghazi attacks as another sign that Republicans will use whatever is before them to find a way to criticize the president.
“We save an American life on foreign soil, the president gets criticized. We lose American lives on foreign soil, the president gets criticized,” she said. “Are you seeing a theme here? It’s politics.”
McCaskill is an early backer of a potential 2016 presidential run by Hillary Clinton, and also heaped praise on Clinton ahead of her possibly throwing her hat into the ring.
In particularly, she credited Clinton with helping the U.S. reestablish solid relations across the world during her stint as secretary of State.
“She has the kind of resume that shows leadership, strength, the ability to make decisions at the moment of crisis that will make her a terrific president of the United States,” she said.
