New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that President Barack Obama had the ability to look at the United States “from the Iranian perspective,” which the columnist sees as a good thing. (RELATED: French Officials: Obama Plans To Make Iran His Key Middle East Ally)
“You know, Obama is someone who has lived abroad maybe more than any president in a long time,” Friedman said. “And because of that, he actually knows what America looks like from the outside in. And he can actually see America even to some point from the Iranian perspective.”
“And it comes through when he says, ‘Let’s remember we — the United States, back in the ’50s — we toppled Iran’s democratically-elected government. You know, there might be some reason these people actually want to get a weapon that will deter that from happening again.’”
Host Joe Scarborough pushed back. “Is it an admirable quality for us to have a president who can look at the world through the eyes of a regime that you and I both know has been the epicenter of terrorism since 1979?” (VIDEO: Reporter Grills State Department: Is United States Now A ‘Functional Ally Of Iran?’)
“Really it depends on what you’re talking about, Joe. I think it really depends on what you think of this deal. Because Iran is a very complex entity, and I think that’s another think Obama understands that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu doesn’t.”
[h/t Newsbusters]