President Obama, in an interview on CNN that's due to air in its entirety this weekend, doubled down on comments he made while selling his Iranian nuke deal to the American people and Congress, during which he likened Republicans who objected to the pact to Islamic hardliners.
In his speech earlier this week, Obama said Iranian's "hardliners are most comfortable with the status quo" of not reaching a nuke deal. He then said in that regard, "they're making common cause with the Republican caucus," as WND reported. The remark was widely panned.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for instance, called them "bizarre and preposterous," as WND previously reported.
So CNN host Fareed Zakaria on Friday gave Obama an opportunity to clarify his remarks. But he only dug in deeper.
"What I said is absolutely true, factually," Obama said. "The truth of the matter is, inside of Iran, the people most opposed to the deal are the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, hardliners who are implacably opposed to any cooperation with the international community."
He also said to CNN: "The reason Mitch McConnell and the rest of the folks in his caucus who opposed this [deal] jumped out and opposed this before they even read it, before it was even posted, is reflective of a ideological commitment not to get a deal done. In that sense they do have much more in common with the hardliners who are much more satisfied with the status quo."
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