Within hours of the announcement that the United States and Israel had began bombing Iran, the liberal media has been on a mission to portray the attacks as unconstitutional, and President Trump as having no legitimate reasons for launching the attack. CNN quickly turned to Democrats to share their anti-Trump messaging.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins interviewed Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), one of the six Democrats to make a video encouraging military service members to disobey unlawful orders, although they couldn’t define any. She underlined for viewers that Crow was a former paratrooper and Army Ranger. Crow had been on her show The Source, the night before, and spoke out strongly against any action against Iran, so she knew exactly where he stood when she asked, “What is your reaction to what you’ve seen play out so far?”
CROW: Here we go again, Kaitlan, you know, this president apparently has learned nothing from the 20-plus years of war, the trillions of dollars that Americans, mainly the working class, spent. The thousands of working class kids lives...We are spending billions of dollars on this operation and it’s not putting groceries on your table, it’s not helping you buy a home it’s not helping you send a kid to school. This is not what Americans want…Don’t get me wrong, I am for American strength in the wise use of American power, and I wouldn’t hesitate to use the American military to protect Americans in our interests. But I just don’t see at all how this is what Americans want. And of course, as a member of Congress, I’m going to stand up and say enough is enough.
What a great time for a journalist to let her guest and audience hear some of what the President said in his Truth Social video earlier that morning, spelling out why the attack was necessary including:
TRUMP: For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries. Among the regime’s very first acts was to back a violent takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding dozens of American hostages for 444 days. In 1983, Iran’s proxies carried out the marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel.
In 2000, they knew and were probably involved with the attack on the USS Cole. Many died. Iranian forces killed and maimed hundreds of American service members in Iraq. The regime’s proxies have continued to launch countless attacks against American forces stationed in the Middle East in recent years, as well as U.S. naval and commercial vessels and international shipping lines. It’s been mass terror, and we’re not going to put up with it any longer.
Instead, Collins set up her softball toss to Crow with this clip of Trump.
TRUMP VIDEO: ..My administration is taking every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region. Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war. But we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future. And it is a noble mission.
COLLINS: Do you fear that that could happen as a result of this?
CROW: ..I’m just damn furious… The man’s a five-time draft dodger. He’s an elite…I went to war. I fought with working class kids. They’re the ones that do the fighting and dying.
And how amazing of Donald Trump to say, you know, that often happens in war, and that’s a cost he’s willing to take. Great for him. It’s not his kids, it’s not his family, it’s not his billionaire donors who are having to go off and do it.
It’s kids in towns across the country that have to pick up the guns, jump into the planes and helicopters and get it done. And it’s kids that are sitting there at military bases in Bahrain, like your videos showing now, who are sitting in bunkers right now because Donald Trump is willing to take a chance with their lives. This is everything that’s wrong with our national security infrastructure and our policies, right?
A journalist might have pointed out to Crow that it would be rare for a president to be sending his kids to war, and that Donald Trump isn’t unique among politicians. He received 5 deferments during the Vietnam War, as did Joe Biden, and Bill Clinton reportedly did his best to avoid serving. Barack Obama never served. But Collins did not bring any context to Crow’s hot take.
Instead, she tossed another softball: “So you want to see a congressional vote on this?”
She later asked Crow if he believes the U.S. is at war with Iran, he said “I do think this was an act of war, and I think it was unconstitutional.”
One more time…a journalist could have pointed out that Congress has not declared war since World War ll. She could point out how many times Obama launched drone attacks and other military actions without a vote of Congress. Need I say, she did not. But she served her purpose.
