Bobby Jindal: Rand Paul is ‘unsuited to be commander-in-chief’

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Wednesday that Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a likely rival for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, is “unsuited to be commander-in-chief.”

Jindal’s comments came after Paul earlier Wednesday blamed Republican “hawks” for the rise of the Islamic State.

“This is a perfect example of why Sen. Paul is unsuited to be Commander-in-Chief,” Jindal said in a statement from his governmental office. “We have men and women in the military who are in the field trying to fight ISIS right now, and Sen. Paul is taking the weakest, most liberal Democrat position.”

“We should all be clear that evil and Radical Islam are at fault for the rise of ISIS, and people like President Obama and Hillary Clinton exacerbate it,” he said. “It has become impossible to imagine a President Paul defeating radical Islam and it's time for the rest of us to say it.”

Jindal, who is expected to enter the presidential race in June, recently said he was “sympathetic” to Paul's fight to curtail National Security Agency surveillance activities.

He later added in a statement: “Sometimes the smartest course is in the middle and (avoiding) extremes, this is one of those instances. People who argue that the Patriot Act is all bad are being dangerously naive about the nature of the threats we face here at home. And people who argue that the government should be allowed to spy on American citizens at will are being dangerously nave about the dangers of such.”

Spokespersons for Paul, who joined the nomination race last month, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Bobby Jindal: Rand Paul is ‘unsuited to be commander-in-chief’."