Former Vice President Dick Cheney dished more criticism in an interview that aired Monday, calling President Obama worse than Jimmy Carter.

“Obviously, I’m not a big fan of President Obama,’’ Cheney told ABC News in his first interview since a heart transplant in March. “I think he’s been one of our weakest presidents. I fundamentally disagree with him, philosophically. You’d be hard put to find any Democratic president that I’ve disagreed with more.’’

Cheney — known for his hard line on terrorism and support of harsh interrogation strategies, including water boarding — offered faint praise for Obama’s pursuit of terror suspects.


“I wouldn’t say he’s been soft on terror, but I think he’s made a number of mistakes,’’ Cheney said. “[Osama] bin Laden, fine. A lot of that intelligence that laid the groundwork for what ultimately led to the capture of bin Laden was a result of programs we had in place in the Bush administration.’’

In an interview excerpt released on Sunday, Cheney had knocked John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate in 2008, saying the pick was a “mistake.’’

McCain defended Palin on Monday during an appearance on Fox News.

“Well, I’m always glad to get comments four years later,’’ the Arizona senator said.

“Look,’’ McCain continued, “I respect the vice president. He and I had strong disagreements on whether we should torture people or not. I didn’t think we should have. But the fact is that I’m proud of Sarah Palin, I’m proud of the job she did, I’m proud of the job she continues to do. So, everybody has their own views and I respect those views. But I’m proud of what we did.’’