In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Arizona Senator John McCain (R) defended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s racist election-day tirade against Palestinians, dismissing criticisms of the head of state as “Orwellian.”

Netanyahu’s controversial statements were made in a 28-second video posted to his Facebook page on March 17 as Israeli citizens took to the polls for the general election. In his comments, Netanyahu denounced the participation of Palestinian citizens of Israel in the voting process.

“The rule of the right-wing is in danger,” Netanyahu said. “Arab voters are going to the polls in droves! Go to the polling stations! Vote Likud!”

The statements were widely perceived as an open endorsement of apartheid and were decribed as a “racist rant” by the New York Times. They also contradicted reports from legal aid group Adalah that the Elections Committee, in fact, refused to provide Bedouin voters who reside in unrecognized villages transportation to the polls.

President Barack Obama said in an interview with the Huffington Post on Saturday that he also took issue with the tirade. Such rhetoric “starts to erode the meaning of democracy in the country,” he said.

Speaking with CNN on Sunday, however, John McCain dismissed the president’s criticisms.

“If every politician were held to everything they say during a campaign, obviously that would be a topic of long discussion,” McCain said. “This is one of the most Orwellian situations I have ever observed.”