Sen. John McCain said the United States should condemn last week’s power grab by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi before the country experiences an Islamist coup.
The Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” said Egypt “could be headed that way” if the street chaos continues.
“What should the United States of America do? They should be saying, ‘This is unacceptable,’” McCain said.
He said the United States should use its leverage in Egypt — including billions of dollars in aid and ongoing debt forgiveness — to persuade President Mohammed Morsi to back off.
“I predict . . . Hamas will continue to test the Israelis and how far that they can go,” McCain said. “To assume this kind of power is unacceptable to the United States of America.”
On the issue of the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, the senator called for a select committee to conduct the investigation. He said the Senate and the House each has four committees hashing through the details of the terrorist plot that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other diplomats, and the result so far has been “turf fights.”
“There’s so many things that need to be resolved here,” McCain said. “We need a select committee in order to sort this whole thing out.”
The dismal support of the Republican Party by female voters, among other segments of society, on Election Day has served as a wake-up call for the GOP, McCain admitted. He said one of the ways to broaden the appeal to women is to dial down the rhetoric on abortion.
“Leave the issue alone,” he said. “I would allow people to have those [pro-choice] opinions and respect those opinions.”
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