Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks at the free market Club for Growth winter economic conference at the Breakers Hotel on Feb. 28 in Palm Beach, Fla. (Joe Skipper/AP)
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — who has tried to stand out in a crowded presidential field with strident attacks on President Obama’s foreign policy — issued a call Tuesday for “all potential presidential candidates” to sign on to a letter written by GOP senators to the government of Iran.
The letter, organized by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), was designed to kill any potential deal struck between the Obama administration and Iranian leaders over Iran’s nuclear program. It warned Iran that if Congress did not formally approve a nuclear agreement, it could then be disregarded or modified under a future president.
The letter was signed by 47 Republican senators, including four who are considered potential candidates in the 2016 presidential race: Ted Cruz (Tex.), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.).
But Jindal (R), in a statement released Tuesday, said that others who might get into the race should sign on, too.
“Every single person thinking about running for President, on both sides, should sign on to this letter to make clear to Iran that they are negotiating with a lame duck President,” Jindal said in a statement issued through an outside group he leads, America Next. “Make no mistake – any Iran deal that President Obama makes is not binding on a future president.”
It is an unusual request, to say the least. Jindal is asking a large group of people who are not actually running for president yet to sign on to a letter casting doubt (based on their status as possible future presidents) on a possible deal that hasn’t actually been struck.
On Tuesday, it was not exactly clear how that group — which, at this stage in the 2016 race, might be in the dozens — would “sign” Cotton’s letter even if they wanted to.
A spokeswoman for Cotton did not immediately respond to questions about whether non-senators could formally sign it. A spokeswoman for Jindal did not respond to a question about whether Jindal himself had signed the letter.
Jindal, the second-term governor of Louisiana, had built a reputation as a genial problem-solver. But now, as the presidential race begins, he’s fallen to the bottom of the GOP field.
In recent weeks, Jindal has moved aggressively to attack Obama on foreign policy, which is not a traditional area of focus for the governor of Louisiana. In his statement Tuesday, Jindal renewed his criticisms that Obama was not willing to confront — or even admit — the true scope of the threat from Islamist groups and Iran.
“The President’s dithering on Iran is the reason we are where we are today. At present, we have an occupant in the White House that thinks we are at war with medieval Christians and Senate Republicans,” Jindal said in the statement. “It’s time for the President to focus on the real enemy – Radical Islam and a nuclear Iran.”
David A. Fahrenthold covers Congress for the Washington Post. He has been at the Post since 2000, and previously covered (in order) the D.C. police, New England, and the environment.
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