Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday praised GOP White House hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, noting that both men have more experience than Barack Obama had when he was elected president.
“When I look at Newt, I see somebody whose got a wealth of experience. I think the same thing’s true of Mitt Romney,” Cheney said on CBS’s “The Early Show.”
“They’ve got a lot more experience than Barack Obama had when he ran for president.
“The situation with Newt and Mitt Romney — these are guys who’ve had a lot of experience running states. Newt was the first Republican Speaker of the House in 40 years, so there’s a lot of substance there that I think is very positive.”
Cheney, who was joined by his daughter Liz Cheney for the interview, was also highly critical of the Obama administration’s handling of foreign policy, including Iran and the withdrawal of troops from Iraq by the end of the year.
Although the withdrawal was negotiated during the Bush administration, Cheney said there were supposed to be additional negotiations that would result in a smaller U.S. force remaining in Iraq to provide security and training.
“The deal was never done,” Cheney said.
President Obama met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday at the White House. Obama vowed that Iraq will have a strong ally in Washington and “will not stand alone.”
Cheney said he believes Iran is “very close” to succeeding at the development of a nuclear weapon.
“I don’t see anything that’s been done by this administration that’s going to stop that program,” Cheney said.
The former vice president also reiterated his disapproval of Obama for not finding a way to destroy the downed U.S. drone in Iran.
For more on Cheney’s reaction to the downed drone, click here.
