Video: Obama's 60 Minutes Interview Did Not Go Smoothly

During an interview for CBS’ 60 Minutes that aired Sunday, correspondent Steve Kroft confronted President Obama with pointed questions about his strategy on Syria, the Islamic State, and the administration’s response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent military incursions. The president handled Kroft’s combative questions with his signature “Jedi-mind trick” approach: “These are not the facts you’re looking for.”

Obama deployed the Jedi tactic when Kroft suggested that Putin was challenging Obama’s leadership. The president tried to make the case that Putin’s aggressive actions showed weakness — not strength. Strength, Obama argued, is leading on climate change (weather) and brokering a nuke deal with Iran (that is so bad, he may end up being the only person in the world willing to sign it).

“A year ago when we did this interview, there was some saber-rattling between the United States and Russia on the Ukrainian border.” said Kroft. “Now it’s also going on in Syria. You said a year ago that the United States– America leads. We’re the indispensable nation. Mr. Putin seems to be challenging that leadership.”

“In what way?” Obama scoffed. “Let– let’s think about this– let– let–”

You read that correctly. Obama took issue with Kroft’s blindingly obvious observation that Putin “seems to be” challenging his leadership.

But Kroft would not be deterred. “Well, he’s moved troops into Syria, for one,” he noted. “He’s got people on the ground. Two, the Russians are conducting military operations in the Middle East for the first time since World War II.”

Obama tried to interject as the 60 Minutes host concluded with the humiliating fact that Putin is “bombing the people– that we are supporting.”

“So that’s leading, Steve?” Obama said dismissively. He argued that Mr. Putin was expending military resources just to “barely hold together by a thread — his sole ally.”

(Yeah, thanks to Obama’s amazing “leadership,” Putin’s objective of forging an alliance consisting of Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanese Hezbollah, as summarized by Frederick Kagan and Kimberly Kagan in the WSJ, may soon be realized.)

“He’s challenging your leadership, Mr. President,” Kroft insisted. “He’s challenging your leadership.”

“If you think running your economy into the ground, and having to send troops in order to prop up your only ally — is leadership — then we’ve got a different definition of leadership,” Obama shot back.

That’s right. Making a fool of Obama by going into Syria under the pretext of fighting ISIS, but bombing U.S.-backed rebels instead, is not leadership. It’s a sign of weakness. Sending in troops and becoming the dominant power in the region is also a sign of weakness.

Here’s Obama’s unique definition of leadership:

“My definition of leadership would be leading on climate change, an international accord that potentially we’ll get in Paris,” Obama said. “My definition of leadership is mobilizing the entire world community to make sure that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon.”

In actuality, Obama’s partners, Britain, China, Germany, France and Russia, don’t give a whit about Iran getting a nuclear weapon. They are are simply interested in lifting the sanctions so they can do business with the Islamic Republic.

Kroft called Obama’s now officially abandoned program to train and equip 5,000 moderate Syrian rebels (which only ended up training four or five) an “embarrassment.”

And Obama responded with such a fatuous load of BS, Kroft actually accused the president of “filibustering.”

“Look, there’s no doubt that it did not work,” Obama intoned. “And, one of the challenges that I’ve had throughout this heartbreaking situation inside of Syria is, is that — you’ll have people insist that, you know, all you have to do is send in a few — you know, truckloads full of arms and people are ready to fight. And then, when you start a train-and-equip program and it doesn’t work, then people say, ‘Well, why didn’t it work?’ Or, ‘If it had just started three months earlier, it would’ve worked.'”

Not three months. It might have worked three YEARS earlier is what people say.

Obama kept rambling on about the volatile situation inside Syria and the many players, arguing that “there aren’t any silver bullets.” He then launched into some well-rehearsed boilerplate about “keeping the American people safe” etc., which prompted Kroft to say: “All right. I feel like I’m being filibustered, Mr. President.”

Welcome to the club, Kroft. Every voice of reason has been filibustered by this president for seven straight years.