Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:21 am
In the ultimate case of blame the victim, John Boehner is trying to blame President Obama for going behind the president’s back and plotting with Netanyahu.
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Transcript via Fox News Sunday:
WALLACE: You’ve created quite a controversy by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress without telling the White House.
Now, everyone from Vice President Biden down to 12 congressional Democrats have said they are not going to attend.
Haven’t you taken one of the few bipartisan issues in this country, support for Israel, and turned it into a political football?
BOEHNER: I have not. The fact is we have every right to do what we did. I wanted the prime minister to come here.
There’s a serious threat facing the world and radical Islamic terrorists are not going to go away. The president devoted but a few words to it in the State of the Union address.
And then when it comes to the threat of Iran having a nuclear weapon — these are important messages that the Congress needs to hear and the American people need to hear. And I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the perfect person to deliver the message of how serious this threat is.
WALLACE: But when you talk with Ron Dermer about inviting Netanyahu, you told him specifically not to tell the White House.
Why would you do that, sir?
BOEHNER: Because I wanted to make sure that there was no interference. There’s no secret here in Washington about the animosity that this White House has for Prime Minister Netanyahu. And I frankly didn’t want them getting in the way and quashing what I thought was a real opportunity.
Netanyahu is blaming Boehner, so the Speaker of the House is blaming the president for his own decision, not to inform the White House of his invitation to Netanyahu. Essentially John Boehner is blaming the target of his plot for the fact that the whole scheme has blown up in his face.
Republicans continue to base all of their hopes on their myth that Obama hates Israel. In their minds, Netanyahu is Israel, so if the president would have objected to the Netanyahu invitation, it’s because he hates Israel.
The plot to humiliate the president has failed. Polling reveals that most people support the president’s position that he should have been notified, and they believe that Boehner acted inappropriately.
The whole scheme has completely unraveled, and John Boehner has returned to his default position of blame Obama.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
