“We have a lot of things that he needs to lead on, and if he’s mired in these scandals, it’s going to be difficult for him to do that,” said McCain on CBS’s “This Morning.”
“Far be it for me to give advice to the president of the United States, but you may remember after Iran Contra Ronald Reagan went on national television and said ‘I’m responsible, we’ve done wrong and I’m responsible,’ said McCain. “I’m not saying the president should do that, but the president I think should be thinking about how to get these issues behind him.”
The White House is facing congressional anger over the IRS scandal involving targeting of conservative groups, as well as the Justice Department’s seizure of reporters’ phone and email records in leak investigations and persistent questions over the administration’s handling of the Benghazi.
In a separate interview on NBC’s “Today” show, McCain addressed the IRS scandal and would not rule out the possibility that the targeting was directed from superiors at IRS headquarters in Washington, D.C., a charge leveled by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
“I think that’s the reason why we need to have hearings, maybe even a select committee may be called for given the questions surrounding this investigation,” said McCain.
“I think we ought to wait and see how events unfold,” he added. “There may be an argument for a special counsel here, but let’s wait and see.”
