Trump Fails To Address Nation After Iraq Airstrike, Tweets Instead

Donald Trump declined to formally address the nation on Thursday, in the hours following an unprecedented airstrike in Iraq that left top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani dead, choosing to give a punctuated statement to reporters from his resort in Mar-a-Lago instead the following afternoon.

The Defense Department first announced Soleimani had been killed on Thursday evening.

Unlike his predecessors, Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, who have paused to address the country following pivotal U.S.-led strikes in the past, Trump spent much of Friday attacking political rivals on Twitter, boosting book sales for his allies, and boasting about the Thursday night hit on Soleimani, a brutal commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which took place near the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. Continue reading.

Defending Airstrike, Pence Falsely Blames Iran For 9/11 Attack

Attempting to justify the Trump administration’s decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Mike Pence falsely claimed that Iran was involved in planning for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“Assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States,” Pence wrote, referring to Iran’s Quds Force, which was under the leadership of Soleimani.

Pence’s claim is at complete odds with the official findings of the 9/11 commission, which exhaustively investigated and examined the attack. Continue reading.