Irony of Ironies: Nebuchadnezzar Teaches Foreign Policy

Obama: Gov. Scott Walker needs to ‘bone up’ on foreign policy

By David Nakamura April 7 at 11:50 AM

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) speaks to supporters in Greenville, S.C., on March 19, 2015. (Jason Miczek/Reuters)

President Obama and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker traded barbs Monday after the president suggested that the likely Republican presidential candidate “bone up on foreign policy.”

Obama made the remarks in an interview with NPR published Monday, responding to a question from reporter Steve Inskeep about Walker’s vow to undo a nuclear pact with Iran on his first day in the White House.

In defending his administration’s tentative framework with Iran over its nuclear program, Obama told NPR that he is confident that it does not need congressional approval. He added that he hopes lawmakers “won’t start calling to question the capacity of the executive branch of the United States to enter into agreements with other countries. If that starts being questioned, that’s going to be a problem for our friends and that’s going to embolden our enemies.”

Obama added: “And it would be a foolish approach to take, and, you know, perhaps Mr. Walker, after he’s taken some time to bone up on foreign policy, will feel the same way.”

Walker, who has been eager to establish his foreign policy chops ahead of a likely bid for the GOP presidential nomination next year, didn’t take long to fight back with a string of Twitter messages.

Walker has been overshadowed the past two weeks as a pair of rivals — Sens. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) — announced their candidacies for the Republican nomination. The governor has not impressed many of the party’s leaders with his knowledge of international affairs, drawing mockery last month for refusing to talk about foreign policy on a trip to London and then for comparing his experience battling labor protesters to taking on Islamic State terrorists.

Obama has been eager to sell the Iran nuclear framework to a skeptical Congress as his administration seeks to finalize a deal without lawmakers approving additional sanctions on Tehran that could scuttle the talks.