McCain blasts ‘abysmally ignorant’ Obama pick for State

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said President Obama’s nomination of Anthony Blinken to be deputy secretary of State endangers U.S. military service members.

“[Blinken] is not only unqualified but, in my view, one of the worst selections of a very bad lot that this president has chosen,” McCain said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “He has been part of a failed foreign policy that has made America less safe.”

{mosads}The Senate is scheduled to vote on Blinken’s nomination later Tuesday. Senate Democrats want to confirm as many nominees with GOP objections before Republicans take control of the Senate next year.

Blinken has served as a foreign policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, who McCain said has been wrong on nearly all of his foreign policy predictions, particularly in the Middle East.

McCain chided Blinken for making “abysmally ignorant” comments about conditions in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

McCain serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.