Democrats’ Iran criticism risks political blowback: ‘Reflexive anti-Trumpism’
Is this competence or optics?
Both President Donald Trump and Democrats are dealing with that old political adage: If you’re explaining, you’re losing.
Trump and high-ranking officials representing his administration have been pressed to rationalize his decision to order strikes last weekend against Iran and explain what comes next.
But Democrats are simultaneously contending with criticism while they do not want Trump to succeed, as they condemn the five-day-old Operation Epic Fury as the start of a so-called “forever war.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday predicted could last for “eight weeks.”
“On the campaign trail, Donald Trump and Republicans promised not to get the American people into endless, failed, foreign, forever wars,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters this week. “Yet, Donald Trump has just gotten America into an endless war that he acknowledges and plans to be endless.”
“We have already tragically lost the lives of six American service members because Donald Trump, without justification, and without coming to Congress, has gotten America into a Middle Eastern war that we know will not end well based on what we have already seen in Afghanistan, Iraq, and, for that matter, in Vietnam as well,” Jeffries said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has not been any more nuanced, telling reporters, “No one wants a nuclear war, no one wants a nuclear Israel, but we certainly don’t want an endless war,” before correcting himself by reiterating, “We certainly don’t want a nuclear Iran.”
Democrats have “one consistent theme,” that “if Trump is for it, they have to be against it,” according to Republican strategist John Feehery.
“If Trump cured cancer tomorrow, the Democrats would complain about how Trump has put all the oncologists out of work,” Feehery told the Washington Examiner. “This reflexive anti-Trumpism is becoming completely untenable. You can’t say you hate [former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro but then say you hate what Trump has done to Maduro. You can’t say that you hate the Ayatollah [Ali Khamenei] but then say you hate what the president has done to him.”
For Feehery, it would be “better” if more Democrats adopted Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) approach.
“Support [Trump] when he does stuff you like and oppose him when does stuff you hate,” he said.
Fetterman, a staunch defender of Israel, endorsed Trump’s strikes shortly after they started last Saturday following the president’s decision to order them on Friday.
Since then, …
Is this competence or optics?
Both President Donald Trump and Democrats are dealing with that old political adage: If you’re explaining, you’re losing.
Trump and high-ranking officials representing his administration have been pressed to rationalize his decision to order strikes last weekend against Iran and explain what comes next.
But Democrats are simultaneously contending with criticism while they do not want Trump to succeed, as they condemn the five-day-old Operation Epic Fury as the start of a so-called “forever war.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday predicted could last for “eight weeks.”
“On the campaign trail, Donald Trump and Republicans promised not to get the American people into endless, failed, foreign, forever wars,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters this week. “Yet, Donald Trump has just gotten America into an endless war that he acknowledges and plans to be endless.”
“We have already tragically lost the lives of six American service members because Donald Trump, without justification, and without coming to Congress, has gotten America into a Middle Eastern war that we know will not end well based on what we have already seen in Afghanistan, Iraq, and, for that matter, in Vietnam as well,” Jeffries said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has not been any more nuanced, telling reporters, “No one wants a nuclear war, no one wants a nuclear Israel, but we certainly don’t want an endless war,” before correcting himself by reiterating, “We certainly don’t want a nuclear Iran.”
Democrats have “one consistent theme,” that “if Trump is for it, they have to be against it,” according to Republican strategist John Feehery.
“If Trump cured cancer tomorrow, the Democrats would complain about how Trump has put all the oncologists out of work,” Feehery told the Washington Examiner. “This reflexive anti-Trumpism is becoming completely untenable. You can’t say you hate [former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro but then say you hate what Trump has done to Maduro. You can’t say that you hate the Ayatollah [Ali Khamenei] but then say you hate what the president has done to him.”
For Feehery, it would be “better” if more Democrats adopted Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) approach.
“Support [Trump] when he does stuff you like and oppose him when does stuff you hate,” he said.
Fetterman, a staunch defender of Israel, endorsed Trump’s strikes shortly after they started last Saturday following the president’s decision to order them on Friday.
Since then, …
Democrats’ Iran criticism risks political blowback: ‘Reflexive anti-Trumpism’
Is this competence or optics?
Both President Donald Trump and Democrats are dealing with that old political adage: If you’re explaining, you’re losing.
Trump and high-ranking officials representing his administration have been pressed to rationalize his decision to order strikes last weekend against Iran and explain what comes next.
But Democrats are simultaneously contending with criticism while they do not want Trump to succeed, as they condemn the five-day-old Operation Epic Fury as the start of a so-called “forever war.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday predicted could last for “eight weeks.”
“On the campaign trail, Donald Trump and Republicans promised not to get the American people into endless, failed, foreign, forever wars,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters this week. “Yet, Donald Trump has just gotten America into an endless war that he acknowledges and plans to be endless.”
“We have already tragically lost the lives of six American service members because Donald Trump, without justification, and without coming to Congress, has gotten America into a Middle Eastern war that we know will not end well based on what we have already seen in Afghanistan, Iraq, and, for that matter, in Vietnam as well,” Jeffries said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has not been any more nuanced, telling reporters, “No one wants a nuclear war, no one wants a nuclear Israel, but we certainly don’t want an endless war,” before correcting himself by reiterating, “We certainly don’t want a nuclear Iran.”
Democrats have “one consistent theme,” that “if Trump is for it, they have to be against it,” according to Republican strategist John Feehery.
“If Trump cured cancer tomorrow, the Democrats would complain about how Trump has put all the oncologists out of work,” Feehery told the Washington Examiner. “This reflexive anti-Trumpism is becoming completely untenable. You can’t say you hate [former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro but then say you hate what Trump has done to Maduro. You can’t say that you hate the Ayatollah [Ali Khamenei] but then say you hate what the president has done to him.”
For Feehery, it would be “better” if more Democrats adopted Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) approach.
“Support [Trump] when he does stuff you like and oppose him when does stuff you hate,” he said.
Fetterman, a staunch defender of Israel, endorsed Trump’s strikes shortly after they started last Saturday following the president’s decision to order them on Friday.
Since then, …
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