It didn't take long for Jay Carney to get his cable news baptism by fire.
The former press secretary for President Barack Obama appeared on CNN the same day that he was announced as the channel's newest political commentator. Carney discussed Obama's speech on the expansion of operations targeting radical militants in Iraq and Syria.
[seealso slug=http://sale-online.click/2014/09/10/obama-islamic-state-strategy-speech/%5D%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EUntil John McCain showed up and all hell broke loose.
The senator from Arizona joined Carney, and the two didn't even bother touching gloves before firing off some haymakers.
For those interested, the longer segment is below, but here's all you really need to see.
The sides were clear, with Carney defending the president and his plan, and McCain arguing that the efforts will be too little too late.
McCain did say he would support the actions proposed by Obama, but added that he doesn't believe the president understands the threat the U.S. faces from the Islamic State. McCain is a member of the senate committees on Armed Services, Foreign Relations and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
The fracas lit up Twitter, providing some levity to the evening.
twitter divided on US war with ISIS, gung-ho for McCain-Carney war.— Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru) September 11, 2014
I enjoyed the McCain/Carney wrestling match as much as the next guy, but shouldn't CNN put on a military expert, or a Syria expert?— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) September 11, 2014
In fairness, what the hell was Jay Carney doing on John McCain's lawn?— Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) September 11, 2014