In an interview with Vox, the president said that the media overstates the alarm of terrorism.
When ABC’s Jon Karl turned the statement on White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, Earnest wasn’t able to answer and restated that the president takes terrorism seriously.
In the second part of Obama’s question, he said that climate change is more of threat than terrorism. Earnest avoided explaining that, and then said that the direct impact of climate change directly affects more than the threat of terrorism.
In a heated back and forth between Karl and Earnest, Karl mentioned the president’s use of the word "random" when discussing the terrorist attack on the Kosher deli in Paris that happened in January. Earnest blamed the media for focusing on the word and said that there were other, non-Jewish people in the deli.
Ed Henry asked whether the Islamic State’s burning of the Jordanian pilot was media hype. Earnest brought up the coalition of 60 members but made no mention as to whether it was media hype.
"The president has succeeded in leveraging the influence of the United States of America, to build this coalition and even to get countries in the region to fly alongside American military air pilots as carrying out air strikes against (Islamic State) targets," said Earnest.