Obama: Sen. Graham ‘Generated Some Headlines’ On Boston, Benghazi

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President Barack Obama on Tuesday fired back at Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has recently cited the September attack in Benghazi, Libya and the Boston Marathon bombings as examples of a decline in U.S. security.

“No, Mr. Graham is not right on this issue. Although I’m sure it generated some headlines,” Obama said at a morning news conference. 

Obama said law enforcement personnel on all levels of government responded to the Boston bombings in “exemplary fashion.” The President also disputed the notion that the FBI was negligent in identifying a threat posed by Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers accused of carrying out the bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police during the ensuing manhunt earlier this month in greater Boston, while his younger brother, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, has been charged in the deadly explosions.

“I think what we saw in Boston was state, local, federal officials, every agency, rallying around a city that had been attacked. Identifying the perpetrators just hours after the scene had been examined. We now have one individual deceased, one in custody. Charges have been brought. I think that all our law enforcement officials performed in exemplary fashion after the bombing had taken place,” Obama said.

He added, “The FBI investigated that older brother. It’s not as if the FBI did nothing. They not only investigated the older brother, they interviewed the older brother. They concluded there were no signs that he was engaging in extremist activity. So that much, we know.”

Update: Sen. Graham responded on Twitter moments after Obama’s remarks:

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