Durbin: Bolton’s Successor Should Be ‘Someone Who Is Willing to Tell This President He’s Just Plain Wrong’

On Wednesday’s “New Day” on CNN, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) discussed who might be now-former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s replacement.

Durbin suggested President Donald Trump was taking cues from “a certain cable channel,” apparently referring to Fox News.

“I don’t know whether John Bolton jumped or was pushed,” he said. “I don’t believe he was ever a good choice to be national security adviser, but we hold our breath now to see who might follow. It appears the president watches a certain cable channel, and if someone makes a good impression on that channel, he says that’s the man to lead the national security policy of the United States. We’ll wait and see.”

The Illinois Democrat discussed what he saw as qualifications for Bolton’s successor, which he said included a willingness to tell Trump he is wrong.

“I can tell you what I’m looking for,” Durbin said. “I’m looking for a grown-up. I’m looking for someone who understands the consequences of war, someone who realizes the United States has historically played a positive role when it comes to world peace, and someone who is willing to tell this president he’s just plain wrong. If we don’t find such a person, I’m afraid this president’s instincts move us in the wrong direction in a dangerous direction.”

Durbin went on to question some of Trump’s foreign policy overtures, which he said had the potential of making “the world more dangerous.”

“This president does things impulsively, inviting the Taliban, a terrorist organization, to come to Camp David, for goodness sakes,” he added. “This notion that he can sit down with Kim Jong-un and North Korea and solve a problem that we faced for decades, and clearly that exploded in his face. Case by case you go through it, and you say, you need some grown-up in the room who will tell this president that just doesn’t work. It makes the world more dangerous. And the United States should not be following that policy.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor