A top Democrat fact-checked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to his face during a briefing on the United States new war with Iran.
Rep. Jim Himes, the party’s top lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee, reminded Rubio on Saturday that U.S.-involved wars in the Middle East have historically dragged on for longer than planned while Americans foot the bill in trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost.
Despite 79-year-old President Donald Trump’s insistence that Saturday’s early morning strikes are a necessity to keep nuclear weapons out of Iran, Himes says he told Rubio that the president is dead wrong.
“Everything I have heard from the Administration before and after these strikes on Iran confirms this is a war of choice with no strategic endgame,” Himes, 59, told Punchbowl News. “As I expressed to Secretary Rubio when he briefed the Gang of Eight, military action in this region almost never ends well for the United States, and conflict with Iran can easily spiral and escalate in ways we cannot anticipate.”
He added, “It does not appear that Donald Trump has learned the lessons of history.”
Himes is a member of the so-called “Gang of Eight,” which is made up of four Republicans and four Democrats, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
While Rubio, 54, briefed the exclusive group of lawmakers ahead of the strikes, Trump did not seek Congressional approval ahead of striking—despite the White House’s own statements describing the military action as “war.”
Himes said he plans to vote in support of a war powers resolution.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
“The President’s own statement acknowledges this is war, and the Constitution requires the administration to come to Congress,” he told Punchbowl. “Next week, the House will vote on a war powers resolution, and I will support that resolution.”
While Trump enjoys Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate, many in the president’s base are not pleased with Saturday’s developments.
“NOBODY WANTS THIS WAR,” said the Trump-aligned, self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, a friend of Donald Trump Jr. and the president’s youngest son, Barron.
Former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson called the strikes, which were carried out as most of America slept, “absolutely disgusting and evil.”
Many pointed out that Trump is a hypocrite for touting himself as the “Peace President,” going as far as shamelessly demanding the Nobel Peace Prize be awarded to him, while now starting another war in the Middle East that he concedes will cost American lives.
Alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos made his feelings clear.
“Oh, how disgusting,” he posted. “F— you, Mr. President.”
The strikes have been condemned by countless Democrats, but Trump does have at least one supporter on the other side of the aisle. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, rushed to Fox News to shower the president in praise for the strikes.
“I might be a Democrat, but in this specific case, the president is absolutely correct,” he said.
Fetterman’s Democratic colleagues disagree—and are peeved that the White House did not seek approval from Congress in advance.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, slammed Trump not only for failing to seek authorization, but for dragging the U.S. into a conflict without a clear, communicated endgame.
“By the president’s own words, ‘American heroes may be lost! That alone should have demanded the highest level of scrutiny, deliberation, and accountability, yet the president moved forward without seeking congressional authorization,” Warner said in a statement.
He continued, “The Constitution is clear: the decision to take this nation to war rests with Congress, and launching large-scale military operations – particularly in the absence of an imminent threat to the United States – raises serious legal and constitutional concerns.”
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