‘Unbelievably Unhelpful’: Kerry Under Fire for ‘Small’ Comments on Syria Strike

The White House has had to balance on the world’s least stable tightrope in order to satisfy two camps on Syria: anti-war liberals and libertarians, and hawks from both parties. For the most part, the Obama administration has worked really hard to assure the former, at the expense of the support of the latter. Case in point, Secretary of State John Kerry promised today that any action taken in Syria would be “unbelievably small.” This ended up earning Kerry quite a bit of ire today, including from Republicans gung-ho about a military response.

Republican Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, reacted to Kerry’s comments on Morning Joe, calling them unhelpful to America’s national security interests (starting at the 8:21 mark in the following video).

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bill Kristol slammed Kerry on Morning Joe too. Meanwhile, John McCain, one of the Republicans pushing hardest for striking Syria, had some tough words for Kerry on Twitter:

And here’s just some of the avalanche of mockery Kerry is getting on Twitter:

All in all, not the best day for Kerry.

[h/t POLITICO, Twitchy]

[photo via screengrab]

— —

Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!