Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney had some harsh words for President Obama over his handling of the crisis in Ukraine.
Appearing as a guest on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday March 24, Governor Romney reaffirmed statements he made during the 2012 election that Russia was America’s number one geopolitical foe by reiterating that we “really need to understand that Russia has very different interests than ours, this is not fantasyland, this is reality.” [See video below.]
The segment began with host Bob Schieffer playing a clip of President Obama mocking Romney during one of the presidential debates in 2012 before the CBS host asked Romney: “I'm sure governor you're tempted this morning to say, I told you so. But do you really believe that what happened in Ukraine had anything to do with what President Obama has or hasn't done?”
Romney then tore into President Obama arguing that:
The president’s naivety with regards to Russia and his faulty judgment about Russia's intentions and objectives has led to number of foreign policy challenges that we face. And unfortunately not having anticipated Russia's intentions the president wasn't able to shape the kinds of events that may have been able to prevent the kinds of circumstances that you're seeing in the Ukraine as well as the things that you're seeing in Syria.
We really need to understand that Russia has very different interests than ours, this is not fantasyland, this is reality, where they are geopolitical adversary. They're not our enemy but they’re certainly an adversary on the world stage.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS
Face the Nation
March 23, 2014
10:42 a.m. Eastern
BOB SCHIEFFER: During the campaign, and I want to start with this you took a lot of heat for saying that Russia was our greatest geopolitical foe in the third debate, the president came down pretty hard on you about that.
BARACK OBAMA: A few months ago when you were asked what's the biggest geopolitical threat facing America you said Russia. Not Al Qaeda, you said Russia and the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War has been over for 20 years.
SCHIEFFER: I'm sure governor you're tempted this morning to say, I told you so. But do you really believe that what happened in Ukraine had anything to do with what President Obama has or hasn't done?
MITT ROMNEY: Well, there's no question, but that the president’s naivety with regards to Russia and his faulty judgment about Russia's intentions and objectives has led to number of foreign policy challenges that we face. And unfortunately not having anticipated Russia's intentions the president wasn't able to shape the kinds of events that may have been able to prevent the kinds of circumstances that you're seeing in the Ukraine as well as the things that you're seeing in Syria. We really need to understand that Russia has very different interests than ours, this is not fantasyland, this is reality, where they are geopolitical adversary. They're not our enemy but they’re certainly an adversary on the world stage.
