McCain, Gohmert squabble over 'intelligence'

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, fired back at Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Thursday, one day after McCain suggested Gohmert had "no intelligence."

The squabble started Oct. 11, when Gohmert, in a speech at the annual Values Voters Summit in Washington, said McCain "supported al-Qaida" in the Syrian civil war.

Gohmert's accusation last week came after McCain told Fox News Republicans had shut down the federal government "on a fool's errand that we were not going to accomplish," to defund the Affordable Care Act.

Gohmert told his Value Voters Summit audience "some senator from Arizona, uh, a guy that liked [former Libyan dictator Moammar] Gadhafi before he wanted to bomb him, a guy that liked [former Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak before he wanted him out, a guy that's been to Syria and supported al-Qaida and rebels, but he was saying today the shutdown has been a fool's errand."

An aide told The Hill at the time McCain would not dignify Gohmert's remark with a response, but during an interview with NBC News late Wednesday, McCain said, "Sometimes those are, comments like that are made out of malice, but if someone has no intelligence, I don't view it as being a malicious statement."

"Obviously, Senator McCain would be better off with 'no intelligence' since he does not know the Syrian opposition he met with is infested with al-Qaida and terrorist kidnappers," Gohmert said Thursday in a prepared statement, CNN reported. "His 'intelligence' even caused him to support the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt that burned churches and killed Christians, as the Senator stood against the will of the massive majority of Egyptians."