Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) criticized the administration's continued opposition to new Iranian sanctions and defended his contention President Barack Obama is worse than former President Jimmy Carter Tuesday on CNN.
On sanctions, McCain said he still supports the legislation that President Obama has threatened to veto.
The Arizona senator mentioned it is worth noting that the Obama administration also opposed the latest set of economic sanctions which were responsible for bringing Iran to the negotiating table.
Moreover, McCain added many in the Senate are perplexed at President Obama's continued opposition to renewed punitive measures that would only take effect if negotiations failed during the current six month window.
McCain argued renewed sanctions would not be harmful "unless the Iranians want to drag out and drag out and drag out these conversations until the point where they are ready [to build a nuclear bomb]."
Host Wolf Blitzer went on to reference McCain's interview last week in which the senator said "I thought Jimmy Carter was bad, but he pales in comparison to this president, in my opinion."
McCain explained the Obama administration's "zeal for withdrawal" across the entire Middle East and inaction as thousands die in Syria is "worse than anything Jimmy Carter did":
JOHN MCCAIN: Look at the map of the Middle East in January of 2009 and look at the map today. I think you'll find that it's vastly different. Look at the speech that the president gave in Cairo in early 2009, beginning with the failure to even speak up for those who were protesting and being slaughtered in the streets of Tehran after a corrupt election. This zeal for withdrawal, a failure of leadership, a lack of leadership, a lack of commitment and you look at virtually every country, you could go from Libya all the way across and all the way around and I think you will find that the situation has deteriorated very badly. And despite what the president says about al Qaeda, al Qaeda is on the rise, dramatically on the rise. Look at the number of terrorist attacks. Look at the entire situation and, of course, the slaughter that's going on in Syria today with the farce going on in Geneva where we have now had 130,000 people massacred while the United States has watched. I say that's worse than anything Jimmy Carter did.