Graham calls Hagel an 'in-your-face' pick

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday called former Republican Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who is President Barack Obama’s likely pick for defense secretary, an “in-your-face” nomination” and someone who is “out of the mainstream” of thinking on foreign policy issues.

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“I’m going to vote for Senator [John] Kerry [for secretary of state]. I don’t agree with him a lot, but I very much think he’s in the mainstream of thought,” Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union."

“Chuck Hagel, if confirmed to be the secretary of defense, would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense toward the state of Israel in our nation’s history," Graham said. “Not only has he said you should directly negotiate with Iran, sanctions won’t work, that Israel should directly negotiate with the Hamas organization, a terrorist group that lobs thousands of rockets into Israel. He also was one of 12 senators who refused to sign a letter to the European Union that Hezbollah should be designated as a terrorist organization."

“He has long severed his ties with the Republican Party. This is an in-your-face nomination by the president," Graham said. "And it looks like the second term of Barack Obama is going to be an in-your-face term."

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