Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has invited President Obama to a debate on the merits of the Iran nuclear deal, also saying Mr. Obama could send Secretary of State John Kerry as a proxy if the president is unwilling to show up.
“Since he’s not willing to discuss the substance, I’ll make an invitation right here tonight, which is I will invite President Obama, at any time and place of his choosing, to debate the substance of the Iran deal,” Mr. Cruz said on Monday’s”Hannity” program on Fox News. “Let’s do it in front of the American people anytime in the next 60 days that Congress has to review this deal. If he’s so convinced he’s right on the substance, I will welcome him anytime and if he’s unwilling to show up, he can send as a proxy John Kerry.”
“Let’s debate the substance of how much this endangers the United States of America, Israel and the world. It’s the single greatest national security threat facing America,” said Mr. Cruz, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate.
On Monday, Mr. Obama had criticized former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s recent comments that the deal is marching Israelis “to the door of the oven” and recounted other GOP criticisms as well.
“We’ve had a sitting senator call John Kerry ’Pontius Pilate,’ ” Mr. Obama told reporters. “We’ve had a sitting senator who also happens to be running for president suggest that I’m the leading state sponsor of terrorism. These are leaders in the Republican Party. Part of what has made America historically great is, particularly when it comes to foreign policy … we don’t play fast and loose that way. It is not the kind of leadership that is needed in America right now.”
But Mr. Cruz said under the deal, money will end up in hands of entities like Hamas and Hezbollah.
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“If this deal goes through, the Obama administration will become quite literally the world’s leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism,” Mr. Cruz said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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