GOP: Where was Obama's outreach in inaugural speech?
The reviews are out on President Obama's second inaugural address, and Republicans are expressing disappointment in what they say was his failure to reach across the aisle in his remarks.
"I was more hopeful that you'd hear more bipartisanship," Rep, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said today on "CBS This Morning." "I was hoping that we would have a second term different than the first term."
To the dismay of many Republicans, the president laid out a laundry list of Democratic pillars such as climate change, same-sex marriage and entitlements during his 19-minute speech.
"The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great," the president said.
However, Republican critics didn't necessarily criticize what was said, but what wasn't, lamenting that he didn't extend an olive branch or an invitation to work together.
"It did seem that he wasn't doing the kind of outreach that he needs to do if he wants to get things accomplished in a second term," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told The Hill.
"I would have liked to have seen some outreach...This is the eighth [inauguration] that I've been to and always there's been a portion of the speech where [the president says], 'I reach out my hand because we need to work together.' That wasn't in this speech," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, according to The Hill.
"My disappointment was that in the speech, I think the president missed an opportunity to talk about where we can find common ground," Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told the Los Angeles Times. "Instead, he chose to talk about it in the abstract and the specifics were about the things he believes, but are not issues where we, as a Congress and an executive branch, can make progress."
Meanwhile, not all Republicans were critical. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, who is often extremely critical of the president, gave the president better-than-expected reviews. He said that "within the context of this capping off a campaign that it was not too political."
And Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he "thought it was a pretty good speech."
"Actually, everything he said kind of fits within a 'brotherly love' type of situation. Do I agree with everything in the speech? No. But I thought it was pretty good.," Hatch told Politico.