Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) engaged in a heated discussion with CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Monday, during which Keilar contended that former President Donald Trump did not effectively dissuade Iranian aggression against U.S. forces.
The conversation took place against the backdrop of a tragic incident in which an explosive-laden drone crashed near the residential area of a base in Jordan, resulting in the deaths of three U.S. servicemembers and injuring at least 34 others.
President Joe Biden attributed the attack, which is still under investigation, to militant groups with Iranian backing and pledged to take action in response.
During his CNN appearance, Waltz, a former Army Special Forces officer, argued that Iran does not believe the administration will “hit back in a way that they care about.”
“I know you’re critical of President O’Biden [sic], that you think he’s emboldening Iran here, but how should the U.S. respond when even former President Trump — I mean, you said peace broke out, but his very direct and controversial action like taking out Soleimani did not stop the deadly attacks on U.S. troops,” Keilar said, referring to the Trump-ordered 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
“So how can the U.S. thread the needle –” she continued before a clearly agitated Waltz interrupted.
“Wait, wait, wait,” the third-term congressman said. “Brianna, I mean, I’m sorry, we had, our ships were attacked, Saudi Aramco was attacked, one of our drones was shot down and then it was once they actually stormed our embassy and killed an American, President Trump gave the order to take out Iran’s field general that was plotting more attacks and then, and then what happened?”
“Sir, I hear you. I’m talking — Listen, I let you speak. No, no. I let you speak–” she pressed.
“No, they launched some missiles, and that was it. So show me the servicemember or the base that was attacked, post-Soleimani strike,” Waltz said. “Who died post-Soleimani strike? I’m sorry. Deterrence was restored post-Soleimani strike.”
“March 2020, U.S. service members died,” Keilar said, a reference to an Iran-backed militia’s attack on Iraq’s Camp Taji base, which killed two U.S. servicemembers.
Waltz went on to point out that under Trump, Iran’s foreign reserves shrank to around $4 billion and now are worth around $70 billion, while most of their oil exports have been restored during Biden’s term.
