Monday at the White House press briefing, press secretary Josh Earnest attacked Republican presidential hopefuls for the rhetoric and declared it to be endangering the country.
Earnest said, “As it relates to the U.S. image around the world, people in other countries look to the United States as a nation that is built upon the values of tolerance, acceptance and freedom. And that is a reputation that we wear with pride. The president has talked in the past in different contexts about how our commitment to those values actually advances our national security interests around the globe. And from Secretary Kerry to Secretary Johnson and others, including national security experts who served in the previous administration, have observed that the kind of offensive, hateful, divisive rhetoric that we have seen from a handful of Republican candidates for president, is damaging and dangerous.”
He added, “What I would anticipate will be the subject of some discussion in the meetings you asked about will be the commitment of this administration to standing up and continuing to speak out in supporting of the values that are central to the founding of our country, but also critical in terms of advancing our national security interests.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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