Sen. John McCain offered one of the harshest critiques yet of the Obama administration’s handling of the terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans, calling it either “a cover up” or “the worst kind of incompetence.”
“This tragedy turned into a debacle and massive cover up or massive incompetence in Libya is having an effect on the voters because of how they view the commander-in-chief,” said McCain, R-Ariz., on CBS’s Face the Nation, adding, “It is now the worst cover up or incompetence that I have ever observed in my life.”
McCain, who has endorsed Mitt Romney and is actively campaigning for him, went on to question President Obama’s credentials as commander-in-chief.
“I don’t know if it’s either a cover up or gross -- the worst kind of incompetence, that does not qualify the president as commander-in-chief,” he said.
The campaigns have repeatedly clashed over the response to the Libya attack and both candidates have weighed in directly on the topic. Romney has declined to press the issue in recent days, but his surrogates took up the charge on Sunday, with McCain hitting Obama particularly hard.
“Somebody the other day said to me, ‘this is as bad as Watergate,’” McCain said. “Nobody died in Watergate. This is either a massive cover up, or incompetence that is not acceptable service to the American people.”
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