In a lengthy interview with the left-wing New Republic, John McCain, the Republican Party’s 2008 nominee blurted out his affection for Hillary Clinton more than once.

At one point the Arizona Senator said that choosing between Rand Paul or Clinton for president in 2016 would be a “tough choice.” He then went on to call the former Secretary of State a “rock star” and criticize Fox News as “schizophrenic” over the issue of immigration reform.

McCain also mocked a Fox News segment on immigration:

New Republic: You have had conversations with people at Fox, The New Yorker reported, about immigration. There is a real divide in the party. What do Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch say about whether the party can come along on this issue?

McCain: It is well known that Rupert Murdoch is a strong supporter of immigration reform. Roger Ailes is also a realist. He believes that immigration reform is vital to the country first, but also the GOP. Yet he does not dictate. [Sean] Hannity has come out against it and kept his job. I don’t think Roger Ailes is ham-fisted.

New Republic: But if you watch Fox, there are all these segments on immigrants and crime and so on, and people get riled up, and then they want reform. It’s a difficult dynamic in the party.

McCain: I think that Fox News is a bit schizophrenic. I saw a guy on “Hannity,” maybe “Huckabee,” and the guy said, “You know, the Chinese are coming across our border, and they are going to commit cyber attacks.”

New Republic: They have to cross the border to do that?

McCain: Honest to God! “They are going to commit cyber attacks.”

McCain’s sudden affection for Clinton is in sharp contrast to the outrage he expressed over the four dead Americans in Libya who were left unprotected by Clinton’s State Department.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC