Graham fielded those questions, too, but said that “without national security, there is no economic security.” He lamented the shrinking defense budget and called President Obama “an incompetent commander in chief” during his two terms.\u00a0During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday,\u00a0Graham berated the Pentagon’s top two leaders \u2014\u00a0Obama appointees\u00a0\u2014\u00a0over what he called the United States’\u00a0“half-assed” approach to a deepening challenge in\u00a0Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m most worried about \u2026 the 1 percent of Americans in uniform\u00a0who have been fighting this war for 14 years,” he said. “They need a commander in chief who knows what the hell they’re doing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graham\u00a0also argued for increased defense spending, a proposal that Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul seemed to oppose later in the evening. He said the new budget deal reached by lawmakers this week is “taking money from Social Security, and going to spend it on the military.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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