On Monday’s “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, host Jon Stewart used his opening segment to question why no high-ranking official from the United States participated in Sunday’s rally in Paris against Islamic terrorism in the wake of the shooting
For the Obama administration, skipping the Paris unity march was the lesser of two evils. Attending would surely have garnered some praise from the media but it also would have been hard to explain on the domestic and international front.
White House Press Secretary John Earnest acknowledges that the Obama administration should have had better representation at the Paris unity march. “I think it’s fair to say that we should have sent somebody with a higher profile to be there,” Earnest said.
In an appearance on CNN on Monday, former White House press secretary Jay Carney fielded questions from Jake Tapper over the Obama administration’s decision not to send a high-ranking White House official to Paris for the rally on Sunday protesting
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) argues that the lack of a White House presence at the Paris march Sunday was not only symbolic of the lack of American leadership to confront radical Islam, it was also dangerous. President Obama did not attend Sunday’s Paris rally, which featured dozens of world leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
On Monday’s “America’s Newsroom” on the Fox News Channel, former U.S. Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, a Fox News contributor, scolded President Barack Obama for his absence at yesterday’s rally in Paris to show support in defiance of Islamic terrorism
After sitting out the “#HandsUpDontShoot” and “#BlackLivesMatter” demonstrations, Obama and Holder were not going to be caught on camera attending a “#JeSuisCharlie” rally in Paris, no matter how many other world leaders were going to be there in solidarity with the French people, with the Jewish people, or with freedom of expression in general.
Sunday while covering the Paris Unity Rally, CNN’s Jake Tapper pointed out while he was not criticizing the Obama administration, he is “disappointed personally, as an American,” the best representation at the Paris Unity Rally today from the Obama Administration was
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas joined the front rank of world leaders in Paris at a massive anti-terror rally on Sunday, separated by a few world leaders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also led the march through the city streets. The gesture was intended to create a message of unity and peace, but it also had the effect of sanitizing Abbas’s ongoing support for terrorism against Israeli civilians.
As millions gather in Paris to protest against terrorism and for free speech and tolerance, the French consulate in San Francisco will host a solidarity rally on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Civic Center Plaza. The rally will honor the victims at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher supermarket, where Islamic radicals killed 12 and four, respectively, last week.
Attorney General Eric Holder will be representing the United States at Sunday afternoon’s rally against terrorism in Paris, France, according to news reports. President Barack Obama has no public events scheduled, and Secretary of State John Kerry is on a trip to India.
