Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Wednesday he had no issue using the term “radical Islam” a day after President Obama defended his refusal to use the phrase.
"[H]e should have said radical Islam — I would say that. I believe that they’re radical, very radical,” Manchin said during an interview with Brian Kilmeade on “Fox and Friends.”
“I don’t know a Muslim in West Virginia or a Muslim anywhere in the country that doesn’t believe that these people are radical if they are radicalized to the point they want to kill innocent people or themselves.”
Still, Manchin defended Obama’s position that using the term wasn’t a strategy to defeat Islamic militants, saying it hasn’t been discussed in the Senate Armed Services Committee as a strategy.
“Basically not saying it and identifying it ... I don’t have a problem with that, and the president has given his reasons why he’s not,” Manchin said, adding, “I would do it in a heartbeat.”
Obama called GOP criticism of his refusal to say “radical Islam” a “political distraction” during a press conference Tuesday, where he blasted presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change?” Obama asked, saying it wouldn’t make terrorists any less committed to killing U.S. citizens.
“Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away,” Obama said, saying his refusal to employ the term wasn’t about political correctness but “actually defeating extremism.”
Obama defended his strategy to go after the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after a gunman who claimed allegiance to ISIS and other terrorist groups killed 49 people and wounded 53 more at a gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday.
Manchin acknowledged Obama’s refusal to use the term wasn’t a surprise, saying on Fox, “He is who he is, seven and a half years. He’s methodical; he’s very thoughtful when he speaks; he doesn’t get very emotional.”
Asked if he wanted to see Obama get more emotional, Manchin responded, “Well, you’d like to see that, OK? But I’ve accepted what we have.”