President Obama asked Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to go to Egypt and encourage the military to allow civilian elections so a democratic process can continue.
The Associated Press quoted Graham explaining the trip:
The president asked Sen. McCain and myself to go to Egypt next week… so we can go over and reinforce in a bipartisan fashion the message that we have to move to civilian control, that the military is going to have to… allow the country to have new elections and move toward an inclusive, democratic approach.
McCain said Egypt is in “turmoil,” but he believes the trip can do some good; he explained the U.S. “has credibility with everybody there, all the different factions there.”
To date, the Obama administration has refused to label the ouster of Mohamed Morsi a coup. Graham said he will stress to the military that “jailing the opposition is more and more like a coup.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.