Hillary Clinton has the power to “capsize” the Obama administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran by coming out against the talks as part of her presidential campaign, contended former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton during a radio interview Sunday.
While expressing doubt that she would risk opening hostilities with President Obama by opposing the negotiations, Bolton said it’s important to pay attention to how Clinton approaches the issue.
He argues Clinton’s protestation could provide political “cover” to other Democrats who also oppose the talks with Tehran.
Bolton, himself a possible 2016 presidential contender, was speaking on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” broadcast on New York’s AM 970 The Answer and Philadelphia’s NewsTalk 990 AM.
Klein asked Bolton about the importance of Clinton’s until-now largely undefined campaign policy on Iran.
“I think if Hillary were to come out against the deal, it would capsize it,” Bolton stated, “because I do think that would be the cover that many very worried Democrats would need.”
“But honestly I don’t see that happening,” he surmised. “That would see an immediate opening of hostilities between the Clinton camp and the Obama White House. I think if anything, that could spur opposition to her procession toward the Democratic nomination.”
The White House talks with Iran, Bolton predicted, are “going to be, I think, a huge issue in the 2016 campaign and therefore that’s another reason why I think watching what she says about it and how she sized it up is so important.”
Bolton said he doesn’t have high hopes for Clinton to oppose the talks, arguing “she is on the same page as the president” when it comes to foreign policy.
“A lot of the preliminaries to these discussions we see now, they started or certainly tried to start during her tenure at the state department,” Bolton told Klein. “And I do think her world view is essentially the same as Obama’s. So while I think it would have a dramatic effect, I think it’s very unlikely.”
Bolton has stated he is thinking about running for president to jumpstart a national dialogue on foreign policy. He joined other potential Republican presidential contenders in New Hampshire last week as part of the Nation Republican Leadership Summit.
