On Sunday’s broadcast of “The McLaughlin Group,” conservative commentator Pat Buchanan reacted to John Bolton’s departure from the White House as National Security Adviser.
According to Buchanan, the risk of armed conflicts with Iran and other adversaries diminished with Bolton’s departure.
“The departure of Bolton means there’s less of a chance of a war with Iran because he is the driving force behind it,” he said. “It’s bad news for Bibi Netanyahu. Bad news for the Saudis. Bad news for the hawks who want to battle with Iran. However, you’ve got to ask yourself — Bolton’s views on Iran, Bolton’s views on North Korea, Bolton’s hawkishness, Bolton’s personality — all these things were known when Trump brought him in. The real question is how Bolton survived for so long. The real future question is Trump going to find a foreign policy team that fundamentally agrees with his anti-interventionist, his desire to withdraw from all these wars, or are we going to get another ultra-hawk in there who tries to contradict him?”
Buchanan also defended the non-interventionist foreign policy stance within the modern Republican Party.
“Look, the American people rejected foreign policy interventionism in the Republican Party,” Buchanan said. “They threw the part out in 2006. They threw Bush out in 2008. Barack Obama is president because the American people want a non-interventionist foreign policy. Things change, Eleanor, and the Republican Party is living with the Reagan foreign policy in a non-Reagan era.”
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