In her introduction of Hillary Clinton at a fundraising event in Washington D.C. on Monday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) took another shot at President Obama’s handling of Islamic State, a strategy with which Clinton has aligned herself.
"It’s often said that we have a big problem with terrorist groups and that ISIS is being contained. Well, it is now in twelve other countries," Feinstein said.
The hit directly pushing back on Obama’s assertion that he had contained IS is hardly Feinstein’s first against the administration. The highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee has stepped up her criticism this month of the president’s strategy and rhetoric regarding the terrorist organization seeking to build an Islamic caliphate.
"No, I don’t think the approach is sufficient to the job," Feinstein said on Face The Nation earlier this month. "I think their general principles and their general principles in terms of the administration’s strategy, too, but I’m concerned that we don’t have the time, and we don’t have years. We need to be aggressive now, because ISIL is a quasi-state."
During the interview, CBS’s John Dickerson asked Feinstein if she felt the White House was being too cautious in addressing the growing problem.
"What I’m saying is this has gone on too long now," she said. "It has not gotten better. It’s gotten worse."
The statements echo what Feinstein said two weeks ago.
"I have never been more concerned," Feinstein said after the coordinated Paris terrorist attacks that killed over 130 people. "I read the intelligence faithfully. ISIL is not contained. ISIL is expanding."
The Democratic senator said America must lead in the world, citing the events in Paris and the Middle East. As his first secretary of state, Clinton’s legacy and candidacy is "uniquely tethered" to Obama’s foreign policy.