Ohio Gov. John Kasich is questioning President Obama’s recent Oval Office speech on fighting terrorism, claiming it did nothing to reassure Americans or outline clear changes.
“The problem with that speech is I can’t figure out quite why he did it,” the GOP presidential candidate told host John Catsimatidis Sunday on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970.
{mosads}“He defended a policy that nobody in America thinks is working.”
Obama gave a rare speech from the Oval Office on Dec. 6 to highlight his strategy to take on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and call for greater gun control after last week’s San Bernardino, Calif., shooting.
The setting is meant to convey gravitas and power, but many Republicans and Democrats were critical of the content.
“If you’ve got to deliver a speech as the president from the Oval Office, you’ve got to have something that’s dramatic and something that’s solid to say that’s going to answer the concerns of Americans,” said Kasich. “And he didn’t do it.”
Kasich also said Obama’s plan to defeat ISIS was insufficient. Instead, he argued, the U.S. must build a coalition of western and Middle Eastern allies to attack ISIS with ground troops and air strikes.
Kasich added the the U.S. must find ways around encrypted communication “so people can’t operate and plan in secret.”
He also had strong words for GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on the heels of the mogul’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration.
The governor called the ban “dead wrong,” impossible to executive and divisive. He also rebuked Trump’s plan to deport undocumented immigrants.
“I don’t have anything against Mr. Trump personally, but we’re not going to scoop up 11-and-a-half million people and ship them out,” said Kasich.
“He’s disparaged Hispanics and Muslims, and he’s insulted women. These are not the things that unify the country and make us stronger, and this just adds to that list.”