Texas Republican: We should send Chuck Norris after ISIS instead of Obama
Rep. Blake Farenthold's (R-TX) interview with conservative broadcaster Newsmax veered from a discussion of military force against the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group to discussing sending actor Chuck Norris after them, Right Wing Watch reported.
"I'm no fan of President [Barack] Obama's, but he was elected president -- that makes him commander-in-chief, so we need to give him full authority to do what he does," Farenthold told host Ed Berliner, before adding, "Quite frankly, Chuck Norris would be the one to send in, not President Obama."
Instead of reminding the congressman that Norris, a former policeman in the Air Force, has not actually served in the military since 1962, Berliner seemed to play along with the idea.
"Of course, he is Texan," Berliner said. "You haven't had the chance to talk about it with Chuck, have you?"
"No I have not," Farenthold said.
"Okay, because you know that the entire world trembles at the thought of Chuck Norris," Berliner replied.
When Farenthold said he didn't mean to "make light" of the situation, Berliner came to his defense.
"I get what you're saying," the host told him. "You'd like to get somebody in there, basically, to do the job."
"Exactly," Farenthold replied. "You've got a president who I don’t think is committed to the war on terror, does not realize that the threat is from radical Islam and not just a few crazies out there. I don’t think he gets it and I don't think his heart’s behind it, and that really worries me."
Earlier this week, Obama sent Congress a formal request for Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against the group.
The request does not call for "enduring offensive ground combat operations," prompting Republicans to criticize Obama's plan for not including ground troops.
"I would support an AUMF that gives the president full authority to go after ISIS any way that he sees fit," Farenthold said on Friday. "We'll lose more Americans if we send our men and women into harm's way with their hands tied behind their back. If we're gonna go into this, we need to go all in."
Watch footage from the interview, as posted by Right Wing Watch on Friday, below.