Despite recognizing several legitimate complaints that would come from swapping five high-ranking Taliban officials for Bowe Bergdahl, the White House is blaming negative public reaction on “hatred for the President.”
The administration knew prior to the terrorist trade that Bergdahl had been identified by the Pentagon as a deserter. They knew that unlawfully avoiding notification of Congress 30 days prior to the trade would raise some eyebrows. Most of all, they knew that they were weakening national security by handing the Taliban a clear-cut victory.
Despite all of that, the White House is preparing to deflect criticism by framing it as just another example of the right “hating on” Obama.
Via Politico (h/t Memeorandum):
President Barack Obama’s Rose Garden appearance Saturday afternoon with Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s parents was an attempt to humanize the prisoner swap to deflect potential criticism of letting five Taliban leaders out of Guantánamo Bay, White House aides say.
It didn’t work.
White House aides were aware Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl had been tagged a deserter, and that they would be grilled over not keeping Congress in the loop. But they figured people would be most outraged over the national security implications.
The White House has been surprised by how much attention has remained on the questions about Bergdahl, from the circumstances of his disappearance to the wild beard his father grew while he was being held that’s even led to Bergdahl’s hometown canceling a celebration. All this, Obama aides say, is in their minds a proxy for the hatred toward the president.
The White House is preparing to blame any and all criticism on Republicans who allegedly complain about everything he does.
I have obtained exclusive footage of White House aides making the claim that criticism leveled at Obama stems from the right’s antipathy toward the president.
Cross-posted at the Mental Recession
