Sen. John McCain said Sunday the Obama administration’s response to the attacks in Libya that killed four Americans “doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Mr. McCain, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” questioned the administration’s contention that the consulate attacks in Libya on Sept. 11 were “spontaneous,” as U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said five days later.
“Five days later?” Mr. McCain said. “That’s either willful ignorance or abysmal intelligence.”
Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican who ran against then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008, said that “to blame it on the video [‘Innocence of Muslims’] shows the absolute ineptitude and ignorance of the reality.”
Mr. McCain stopped short of endorsing the call by Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican, for Ms. Rice’s resignation.
“She’s the messenger,” Mr. McCain said.
