GOP lawmaker calls McConnell's criticism of Obama 'offensive'

Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), who lost his Republican primary earlier this year, accused the leaders of his party of politicizing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Inglis called criticism lobbed at President Obama by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) "offensive to me," and encouraged members of his party to "unite" behind the president.

On Tuesday, both McConnell and Boehner criticized the president for not giving more credit to former President George W. Bush and his plan for a troop surge in Iraq. 

"What I’d say back to [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell and whoever is this is really not a time to play politics," Inglis told South Carolina's Spartanburg Herald-Journal. "It represents really the worst in politics, to politicize a war. America’s at war. And America’s best are serving right now in some very dangerous places.”

In 2007, Inglis opposed the troop surge in Congress, one of the many issues his GOP opponent used against him in the Republican primary. Inglis was defeated by prosecutor Trey Gowdy in a June runoff. 

Inglis recently returned from a two-week overseas trip that included visits to Iraq and Afghanistan.