In an interview with former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Monday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie was incredulous of his criticism of President Obama’s strategy against ISIS: “You wrote in The Washington Post that the President should wage war to defeat ISIS, quote, ‘not merely to harass it.’ That is pretty tough language. Let me be direct with you, are you saying the President is dabbling at war with ISIS?”
Romney doubled down: “Well, it's clear that he's pulled his punches there. He laid out a tactic now a couple years ago. It's very obvious that his tactics there have not worked. He said that ISIS had been contained. It has obviously not been contained.”
Guthrie grilled him on what he would do: “You wrote, ‘We must do what it takes,’ and you said that might include U.S. boots on the ground, so let's be specific. How many?...If you were sitting in the Oval Office, would you be ready to commit a significant amount of U.S. combat troops, tens of thousands?”
Romney replied: “Well, the answer to that is yes. I think you don't take things off the table at the beginning. When you're fighting a war you say, ‘We're going to win. We're going to do whatever it takes.’ And the President has not been willing to do that.”
Guthrie continued to press: “What do you say to those who say we do not want to see the U.S. sucked into another huge conflict, huge intervention in the Middle East that potentially has no end?”
Romney pointed out: “...the President said, by the way, he called ISIS a cancer. And when there's a cancer, you go at it heavy and hard at the beginning. If you don't, and if it metastasizes like this has, the consequences can be very, very severe for decades.”
To her credit, Guthrie called out Democrats for being unwilling to accurately label the enemy: “You say call it what it is, we're at war with radical Islam. Hillary Clinton rather pointedly did not use that terminology over the weekend. Is that a mistake? Do these words matter?”
Romney took Obama to task on the top:
Well, the words do matter because this is not just a military conflict, it's also an ideological conflict. And we have to understand that there are people in the world who don't think the way we do. The President keeps talking about our shared values throughout the world. That's not the case. These radical Islamists, they do not share our values.
Guthrie did however try to provide some cover for the Democrats:
And how do you feel about the slate of candidates running on the Republican side? You have two frontrunners who have no foreign policy experience whatsoever. Are they ready to be commander-in-chief? Are they credible commanders-in-chief potentially?...Who would be better on ISIS, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? Who would be more experienced?
Romney blasted Clinton:
...there's no question that Hillary Clinton has a lot of experience. She just has very bad experience. She's the one that pressed the reset button with Russia. She's the one that called Assad a reformer. She's the one that has helped lead with decisions that have established ISIS. She didn't do that on purpose obviously, but she's just been wrong time and time again. I like to see a new direction taken to make sure that America's interests are protected and that we are able to know that ISIS has been eliminated.
Here is a full transcript of the November 16 interview:
7:15 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Governor Mitt Romney is with us exclusively this morning. Governor Romney, it's good to see you.
MITT ROMNEY: Thanks, Savannah, good to be with you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Mitt Romney One-on-One; 2012 GOP Nominee on Battle vs. ISIS]
GUTHRIE: You wrote in The Washington Post that the President should wage war to defeat ISIS, quote, “not merely to harass it.” That is pretty tough language. Let me be direct with you, are you saying the President is dabbling at war with ISIS?
ROMNEY: Well, it's clear that he's pulled his punches there. He laid out a tactic now a couple years ago. It's very obvious that his tactics there have not worked. He said that ISIS had been contained. It has obviously not been contained. Paris is evidence of that. Libya, evidence of that. Lebanon, North Africa. We recognize that it has not worked. ISIS has become stronger, and they have metastasized. It's a cancer that's metastasized much more broadly in the world, and if we don't change our course and take this seriously and go to war against ISIS, we're going to see what happened in Paris happen in the United States.
GUTHRIE: You wrote, “We must do what it takes,” and you said that might include U.S. boots on the ground, so let's be specific. How many? Lindsey Graham has said maybe you need 10,000. I've seen military experts say 50,000. If you were sitting in the Oval Office, would you be ready to commit a significant amount of U.S. combat troops, tens of thousands?
ROMNEY: Well, the answer to that is yes. I think you don't take things off the table at the beginning. When you're fighting a war you say, “We're going to win. We're going to do whatever it takes.” And the President has not been willing to do that. He needs to sit down with top advisers in our military, as well as leaders from NATO and their militaries, and lay out an effective strategy that encompasses not just our capacities but also the capacities of our allies within NATO as well as our friends in the region, put together a complete and comprehensive approach to taking down and eliminating ISIS. Look, he calls Afghanistan the good war, and that's what happened. We went after Afghanistan and took them out.
GUTHRIE: What do you say to those who say we do not want to see the U.S. sucked into another huge conflict, huge intervention in the Middle East that potentially has no end?
ROMNEY: That's the last thing we want to have done, but what we're seeing right now is the U.S. being attacked and our friends being attacked, and it's gonna get worse unless we recognize – just like the President said, by the way, he called ISIS a cancer. And when there's a cancer, you go at it heavy and hard at the beginning. If you don't, and if it metastasizes like this has, the consequences can be very, very severe for decades. So it's time for us to get serious about this, for us to come together as NATO and finally eliminate ISIS.
GUTHRIE: You say call it what it is, we're at war with radical Islam. Hillary Clinton rather pointedly did not use that terminology over the weekend. Is that a mistake? Do these words matter?
ROMNEY: Well, the words do matter because this is not just a military conflict, it's also an ideological conflict. And we have to understand that there are people in the world who don't think the way we do. The President keeps talking about our shared values throughout the world. That's not the case. These radical Islamists, they do not share our values. They have very different values. And this means we're going to have to rely on the world of Islam, the major Islamic nations, to take the lead in helping promote a very different view of Islam, peace and understanding, as opposed to the radicalization that's going on. The Saudis and UAE and Qatar and others, are going to have to take a leading role changing hearts and minds in the world of Islam.
GUTHRIE: Governor, perhaps once a presidential candidate, always a presidential candidate, the fact that you wrote this op-ed, the fact that you're talking to us this morning, a lot of people will wonder, do you want to be in this race? I'm going to put it as bluntly as I possibly can. Would you run in 2016 under any circumstances?
ROMNEY: Savannah, I've said it, I'll say it again today, which is I'm not running. I'm not planning on running. This is an issue of great consequence, and the fact is, I care about the country. When you run for president, as I have, and you lose, it doesn't mean you stop caring. I care very deeply, and I'm concerned that what the President’s doing is not conducive to America remaining safe, and we have to change course. This continuation is not acceptable.
GUTHRIE: And how do you feel about the slate of candidates running on the Republican side? You have two frontrunners who have no foreign policy experience whatsoever. Are they ready to be commander-in-chief? Are they credible commanders-in-chief potentially?
ROMNEY: You know, I think we have with the 15 or so Republicans running, among them, maybe two or three that could potentially become our nominee and also win the general election, and I think those people will be found to have the experience necessary to lead our country at a very, very important time, both domestically and internationally. This ISIS thing is a major issue, and Hillary Clinton is wrong on it. She was wrong over the period when she was secretary of state, and that's gonna harm her candidacy quite significantly.
GUTHRIE: Who would be better on ISIS, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? Who would be more experienced?
ROMNEY: Well, I'm – there's no question that Hillary Clinton has a lot of experience. She just has very bad experience. She's the one that pressed the reset button with Russia. She's the one that called Assad a reformer. She's the one that has helped lead with decisions that have established ISIS. She didn't do that on purpose obviously, but she's just been wrong time and time again. I like to see a new direction taken to make sure that America's interests are protected and that we are able to know that ISIS has been eliminated.
GUTHRIE: Governor, I'll let you go, but I have to ask you, is there anything that would change your mind about running?
ROMNEY: No, I'm – I'm very much engaged in the political battles, but I'm doing it as a supporter of Republicans and of conservatism rather than as an active candidate.
GUTHRIE: Appreciate you getting up early and speaking with us this morning. Governor Mitt Romney, thank you very much.
ROMNEY: Thanks, Savannah.
