McCain defends Palin pick: Cheney was wrong on torture too

Sen. John McCain on Monday linked former Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that picking former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president was a "mistake" to his support for torture.

During an interview that aired on Sunday, Cheney had told ABC's Jonathan Karl that it was important for presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney to handle his VP pick better than McCain had in 2008.

"[T]he test to get on that small list has to be, is this person capable of being president of the United States?" Cheney explained.

"I like Gov. Palin, I’ve met her, I know her, she’s an attractive candidate, but based on her background — she had only been governor for two years — I don’t think she passed that test."

Fox News host Brian Kilmead on Monday asked McCain to respond to Cheney's criticism.

"I'm always glad to get comments four years later," the former Republican presidential candidate quipped. "Look, I respect the vice-president. He and I had strong disagreements as to whether we should torture people or not. I don't think we should have."

"But the fact is that I'm proud of Sarah Palin, I'm proud of the job she did, I'm proud of the job she continues to do, and so everybody has their own views and I respect those views, but I'm proud of what she did," he added.

Cheney's own daughter, Liz Cheney, also disagreed with her father in a tweet on Sunday.

"Rarely do I disagree with best VP ever but @SarahPalinUSA more qualified than Obama and Biden combined," Liz Cheney wrote. "Huge respect 4 all she's done 4 GOP."

Watch this video from the Fox News' Fox & Friends, broadcast July 30, 2012.

(h/t: Politico)