WASHINGTON (TIP): Moving closer to a formal announcement of his US presidential bid, Indian-American Bobby Jindal has slammed his fellow Republican and presidential aspirant Rand Paul for being “unsuited to be the commander in chief.”

In an unusually harsh language, the 43-year-old Louisiana Governor slammed Senator Paul as being
“unsuited to be the commander in chief” after Paul in a TV interview said that “ISIS grew stronger because of the hawks” in the Republican party.

“This is a perfect example of why Senator Paul is unsuited to be Commander-in-Chief,” said Jindal, who earlier this month formed an exploratory committee for his presidential bid.

“We have men and women in the military who are in the field trying to fight ISIS right now, and Senator Paul is taking the weakest, most liberal Democrat position,” he said.

Jindal, who is expected to join the GOP fray next month, said: “It’s one thing for Senator Paul to take an outlandish position as a Senator at Washington cocktail parties, but being Commander-in-Chief is an entirely different job.”

“We should all be clear that evil and Radical Islam are at fault for the rise of ISIS, and people like President Obama and Hillary Clinton exacerbate it,” he said.

“American weakness, not American strength, emboldens our enemies. Senator Paul’s illogical argument clouds a situation that should provide pure moral clarity. Islam has a problem. ISIS is its current manifestation,” he said.

Jindal said that the next US President’s job is to have the “discipline and strength” to wipe out ISIS. “It has become impossible to imagine a President Paul defeating radical Islam and it’s time for the rest of us to say it.”

Paul’s campaign fought back immediately, with Paul’s senior adviser Doug Stafford calling Jindal’s attack
“ironic.”

“It’s ironic Governor Jindal would level such a charge when he flip-flops on crucial issues like common core and national security, and he has cratered his own state’s economy and budget,” said Stafford.

Jindal previously supported the federal Common Core educational standards, but has since become the anti-Common Core movement’s most vocal advocate.

Jindal is a former congressman who started his career in public service as Louisiana’s health secretary. The war of words between Jindal and Paul has been widely reported in the US media on Wednesday.