At about 6:40 p.m. on the January 30 show, host Wolf Blitzer led Toobin, Gloria Borger and Jack Cafferty in a discussion that included reaction to Giuliani's speech, which had run live earlier that hour. After Borger gave a positive review of the speech, Toobin responded:
I don't want to dissent too much. I mean, I think Giuliani said something that was very helpful to McCain. I think it's certainly good. However, he did say something that is really pretty outrageous. He said he thought McCain should be "Commander-in-Chief of the United States." The President is not Commander-in-Chief of the United States. He's Commander-in-Chief of the military. And that is an example of, you know, Giuliani's, kind of, militaristic, authoritarian approach that I think is just not right. And even the President, that's not what the President does. He doesn't run the country.
Below is a transcript of a portion of Giuliani's speech, which aired about 6:10 p.m., that included the former mayor's reference to McCain becoming "Commander-in-Chief of the United States":
And so deciding who to endorse, in my particular case, is not difficult because if I endorsed anyone else, you would say I was flip-flopping after having already endorsed John. John McCain is the most qualified candidate to be the next Commander-in-Chief of the United States. He is an American hero, and America could use heroes in the White House. He's a man of honor and integrity, and you can underline both "honor" and "integrity."
