Hillary Clinton appeared with retiring Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) at his annual Iowa Steak Fry fundraiser on Sunday, just days after Harkin made controversial remarks dismissing the Islamic State (ISIS) terror threat as mere “fear-mongering.”
“It’s fear-mongering. It’s what happened after 9/11. ‘Oh my God, they’ve got these planes crashing. Now they’re going to take over America.’ That’s nonsense,” said Harkin to the Huffington Post.
Harkin added, “We overreacted to 9/11. Most of the people that did 9/11 were Saudis. Why the hell didn’t we invade Saudi Arabia? There wasn’t one Iraqi involved in 9/11,” said Harkin. “We just keep jumping from one mistake to another. I have a feeling we’re going to do the same thing with the [Islamic State.]”
Hillary Clinton has yet to comment on Harkin’s remarks.
Harkin did not endorse a Hillary presidential candidacy but praised her, telling the crowd she was a “rock star” when she landed in the Senate and that she deserves ample credit for paving the way for President Barack Obama’s unpopular health care overhaul, Obamacare.
“Her fingerprints are all over that legislation [Obamacare],” said Harkin.