White House Press Secretary Jay Carney took a dig at former Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday for his scathing Wall Street Journal op-ed on President Barack Obama’s handling of the situation in Iraq.
Carney was asked about the opinion piece, in which Cheney declared “rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many,” during his final White House briefing.
“Which president was he talking about?” Carney said with a straight face, drawing laughter from reporters.
“Look, it’s always good to hear from former Vice President Cheney,” he added. “It’s pretty clear that President Obama and our team here have distinctly different views on Iraq from the team that led the United States to invade Iraq back in 2003, so he’s entitled to his opinion.”
Carney was also asked about Cheney’s accusation that Obama was off playing golf when he should have been focusing his attention on addressing the Islamic insurgency in Iraq.
“I think it’s pretty clear the President’s been paying close attention to this and has been engaging with his national security team,” he responded.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) did away with such sarcasm earlier Wednesday and blasted former Bush administration officials, including Cheney, for continuing to advocate putting U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq.
“If there is one thing that this country does not need, it’s that we should be taking advice from Dick Cheney on wars,” Reid said. “Being on the wrong side of Dick Cheney is to be on the right side of history.”