Both former Vice President Joe Biden and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg criticized President Trump for ordering the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
The two Democratic candidates hit the president for launching the attack during Friday’s primary debate.
Buttigieg was asked if he’d order the strike if he was in the president’s position, and he answered, “It depends on the circumstances. It depends if there was an alternative, and it depends what the different effects would be. That’s my point. This is not an episode of 24. This is a situation that requires you actually evaluate the entire intelligence picture.”
The moderator then brought the same topic up with Biden because the Obama administration passed on the chance to terminate Soleimani.
Biden explained that he wouldn’t have ordered the strike because “there’s no evidence yet of an imminent threat that was going to come from him.”
The former vice president went on to disparage the president for appearing to downplay injuries from Iran’s retaliatory attack at an Iraqi military base. Last month, Trump stated, “I heard that they had headaches. And a couple of other things. But I would say, and I can report, it is not very serious.” However, 64 soldiers have been diagnosed with traumatic head injuries.
