Elisabeth Hasselbeck ripped into White House press secretary Josh Earnest on “Fox and Friends” Wednesday for President Barack Obama’s response to the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Hasselbeck characterized Obama’s response as “aloof, apathetic … and quite cavalier.” Hasselbeck also took issue with Obama calling the attacks a “setback” in the fight against terrorism.
In addition, she was unhappy with Secretary of State John Kerry, who said he could see the rationale for January’s Charlie Hebdo attack, but not for Friday’s assault which left up to 125 people dead.
“Would you go back and ask for that language to be changed at this point, to reflect some sort of solidarity and intentional aggression against ISIS?” Hasselbeck said. “I mean, to call this understandable as it relates to Charlie Hebdo and call this a ‘setback’ seems awful, at least to the American people.”
“I would encourage you to spend just as much time focusing on the president’s actions as you do his words,” Earnest fired back. Hasselbeck then tried to speak over Earnest objections.
“Let me finish my answer,” Earnest said. “If you have me on your show to talk about a serious issue, give me an opportunity to answer the question.”
Hasselbeck responded, “I would let you know the president’s words matter to me, not just to the American people but to those around the globe who are very concerned now. Our president’s words matter. He called it a ‘setback’ why? Just a ‘setback’ seems cavalier. Go ahead and answer the question.”
Earnest then went on to list the President’s actions immediately following the attacks, which included offering aid to French President Francois Hollande and convening his national security team.
“[There] was an extended conversation about the intelligence and about what sort of military steps we could take to ramp up our efforts inside of Syria and make sure we can support our French allies if they chose to ramp up their efforts inside of Syria,” Earnest said.
Watch the video below.