Sasse Responds to Obama Press Conference

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s comments today that “there is no magic to the phrase 'radical Islam.' It is a political talking point. It is not a strategy.”

“With all due respect Mr. President, you’re wrong," said Sasse. "Telling the truth about violent Islam is a prerequisite to a strategy – a strategy you admitted you don’t have. It is the Commander-in-Chief’s duty to actually identify our enemies and to help the American people understand the challenge of violent Islam.”

Background:

Last December, Senator Sasse took to the senate floor criticizing Washington’s lack of urgency and seriousness in confronting the growing threat of militant islam.  In his remarks Sasse said, “There are many hand-wringers in Washington who refuse to name the enemy we face. They refuse to admit that we are at war with militant Islam, with jihadi Islam, with violent Islam. They dance around platitudes and empty labels, hiding behind a worry (an understandable worry) that Muslims in America could face backlash. 

"I share this fear. And I believe that telling the truth about who is, and who is not, our enemy is actually the only sure pathway to avoiding that danger.”

Sasse’s full speech from December 8, 2015 can be found here: https://youtu.be/LQuaR73ogvo

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