Lindsey Graham: ‘I Miss George W. Bush! I Wish He Was President Right Now!’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on Tuesday that he wishes former President George W. Bush was in office right now.

Graham, speaking at the fifth Republican presidential debate, said that Obama is to blame for the rise of ISIS and that people need to stop pinning the blame on Bush.

“The surge worked, it worked,” Graham said at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. “George W. Bush made mistakes, but he did adjust. I blame Obama for ISIL, not Bush. I’m tired of beating on Bush. I miss George W. Bush. I wish you were president right now. We wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“If we had 10,000 troops left in Iraq, there would be no ISIL and I hate what Obama did,” Graham added. “He gave away everything we fought for and I hate what he did.”

Graham also made clear that if he were president he would not join Russia’s Vladimir Putin in keeping Assad in power.

“It is absolutely imperative that Bashar al Assad go,” Graham said. “The biggest mistake Obama made was drawing a red line. Assad crossed it and he is still standing. If I am president Assad will not stand. He has murdered 240,00 of his own people. They’re not going to accept him as their own leader.”

Graham also criticized Obama’s relationship with Putin. He argued that exporting natural gas in America will help weaken Putin’s power and influence.

“Wouldn’t you like to export natural gas to cut Putin’s legs out from under him?” Graham asked. “I’m not afraid of a guy riding around on a horse without a shirt. The guy has got a pair of twos, we’ve got a full house, and he’s walking all over Obama.”