McCain, Carney crossfire on CNN live coverage of Obama speech

Sen. John McCain and former White House press secretary Jay Carney got into a heated exchange on CNN following President Barack Obama's primetime speech Wednesday.

Carney — named as a CNN contributor just hours before the speech — and the Arizona Republican argued over the Obama administration's foreign policy, with McCain accusing Carney of rewriting history about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

“Facts are stubborn things, Mr. Carney,” McCain said. “[President Obama's] entire national security team, including his secretary of state, said, 'We want to arm and train and equip these people.' And he made the unilateral decision to turn them down. And the fact that they didn't leave a residual force in Iraq, overruling all of his military advisers, is the reason why we're facing ISIS today."

"Senator, we’re going have to agree to disagree," Carney countered, contending the Bush White House had set the departure date for the American military.

“Again, Mr. Carney, you are again saying facts that are patently false,” McCain said. “You, in your role as the spokesperson, bragged about the fact that the last American combat troop had left Iraq. If we had left a residual force the situation would not be what it is today."

“Senator, I can posit, with great respect for you," Carney said, before McCain cut him off.

“No, you can’t. No, you can’t, because you don’t have the facts," McCain replied. "You don’t have the facts, Mr. Carney. That’s the problem.”

Carney, who stepped down as the White House press secretary in May, spent 20 years with Time magazine before joining the administration in 2009.