Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer lambasted President Obama's comments today at a press conference in Antalya, Turkey on Special Report with Bret Baier, asserting that the president sounded "flat and detached" when discussing the Paris terror attacks and his strategy to confront Islamic State, but only showed passion when asked about widespread Republican opposition to letting in Syrian refugees.
Krauthammer, who was on the show's "All Star Panel" with George Will and Juan Williams, said that this split in tone struck him above the content of Obama's remarks, which the columnist characterized as "misstatement of facts" and "delusions."
"Even his own [Democratic Senator] Dianne Feinstein says we are not winning this [war against IS]. In fact, they are expanding...So, you've got all of that, but what struck me above all...it's the president's tone. There was this lassitude, passivity, annoyance. He was irritable. ‘You know, you guys asking me again if the strategy is working,’ as if, you know, it's so obvious that it is."
Krauthammer then described that despite his ability to rouse passion, Obama's tone here was "flat and detached." At the end of the press conference, however, the president was passionate when asked about bringing Syrian refugees into the United States.
"That's where he showed passion. You could see the anger," he said. "And who's he angry against? Republicans who suggest ‘slamming the door on refugees’ when their reasons are quite good."
Obama has called for bringing at least 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States, but many Republicans have argued against such a policy because of the possibility of jihadists infiltrating the migrant influx, including several governors who have refused to take any refugees into their states.
To contrast Obama's attitude toward the attacks in Paris and the fight against IS with that of the French government, Krauthammer points to the French calling the terrorism on their soil an act of war, while the president calls it a "setback."