On Thursday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) placed the blame for the Orlando nightclub massacre, which killed 49, squarely on President Obama's shoulders. In a conversation with reporters in the Senate hallway, McCain suggested that Obama was "directly responsible" for the terror attack because his failures in the Middle East — including pulling troops from Iraq and not trying harder to intervene in Syria — had enabled the rise of the Islamic State. The Orlando gunman, Omar Mateen, allegedly pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State while carrying out the shooting.
McCain, who ran against Obama for president in 2008, made the comments as Obama visited with families and victims of the Orlando shooting Thursday. He then sent out a tweet to "clarify" his remarks:
The Arizona senator's remarks echo those of Donald Trump, who The Associated Press reports has "suggested that Obama himself might sympathize with radical elements." On Wednesday, the presumptive GOP nominee tweeted out an article that claimed Obama "'actively supported' the terrorist group that became the Islamic State."