Obama Downplayed ISIS Threat to Homeland Hours Before San Bernardino Attack

Hours before three shooters killed fourteen people in San Bernardino, California– at least one of whom pledged their allegiance to ISIS— President Barack Obama downplayed ISIS’ ability to attack the United States and said the U.S. “has never been more protected.”

“What I try to do is to make sure that people understand the threat is real, we have to vigilant, but we also can’t panic and we can’t respond out of fear. We have to make sure that we keep a clear-eyed view about what needs to be done,” Obama told CBS’ This Morning Wednesday when asked about Americans’ concerns about ISIS attacking the homeland.

“ISIL is not going to pose an existential threat to us,” he argued. “They are a dangerous organization like al Qaeda was, but we have hardened our defenses, our homeland has never been more protected by more effective intelligence and law enforcement professionals at every level than they are now. The coordination is much better than it is now.”

“If you look at the number of successful terrorist attacks that have occurred, you know, we have disrupted a lot of them,” Obama concluded. “But the dangers are still there and so we just have to keep things in perspective.”

The ill-timed remarks are reminiscent of Obama’s declaration the day before the Paris attacks that ISIS had been “contained” in the Middle East. That remark earned the president some blowback from Republicans, members of the press, and even from members of his own party.

Watch above, via CBS.

[Image via screengrab]
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