Jake Tapper calls out Obama for failing to deliver on another promise

Sarah D. | 2:26 PM on April 24, 2014

CNN’s Jake Tapper was less than impressed with President Obama’s statement regarding the anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide:

“The facts are undeniable,” Obama said then, though today he denied them.http://t.co/adxudnFjFp

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 24, 2014

Ouch. Tapper writes:

For the sixth year in a row, President Barack Obama has broken his promise to the Armenian community, made when seeking their votes as a senator and a presidential candidate, to use the word “genocide” to describe the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire a century ago. He did this in deference to the government of Turkey, which – historical revisionism aside – the Obama administration regards as a more crucial ally.

…

“I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed,” Obama said in a statement that avoided use of the “g” word.

As Tapper points out, what Obama has actually delivered is a far cry from what he vowed as a senator in 2008:

“America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides,” he said in 2008. “I intend to be that president.”

The idea that President Obama wouldn’t follow through on promises may be disappointing, but it’s not surprising: