A 2011 tweet from President Trump has been making the rounds on Twitter the morning after he issued a drone strike to kill Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
U.S. forces killed Soleimani on Thursday after weeks of escalating tensions including the killing of an American contractor and an attack on the U.S. embassy in Iraq. Soleimani, who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. soldiers, was one of the ayatollah’s highest-ranking generals, leaving some fearful that Iran may retaliate and trigger a war in the region.
Fears of war encouraged some to share a tweet from 2011, where Trump warned that President Barack Obama may engage in a war with Iran as a way to secure loyalty and support ahead of his 2012 reelection campaign against Mitt Romney.
Trump tweeted, “In order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran.”
In order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2011
There was also a video of Trump making similar remarks at the time, saying, “The president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He’s weak, and he’s ineffective. We have a real problem in the White House. So I believe he will attack Iran sometime prior to the election because he thinks that’s the only way he can get elected. Isn’t it pathetic.”
In 2011, Trump believed Obama would start a war with Iran to help win an election ? pic.twitter.com/I2yFQrvkTY
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 3, 2020
Several people shared Trump’s 2011 remarks and claimed that he is now trying to do what he accused of Obama doing ahead of the 2020 elections. New York City public defender Eliza Orlins tweeted, “Clearly Trump thinks that it’s an electoral strategy to start a war. We should all be very afraid.”
Many others shared her sentiments.
Clearly Trump thinks that it’s an electoral strategy to start a war. We should all be very afraid. https://t.co/jPQ2EqDtuH
— Eliza Orlins (@eorlins) January 3, 2020
And here we are, in an election year, and look at what you’ve done https://t.co/yL3tP910Ma
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 3, 2020
It looks like @realDonaldTrump is about to start a war with IRAN because he got #impeached https://t.co/9OMrViTVoR
— Sophia A. Nelson (@IAmSophiaNelson) January 3, 2020
For everything (turn, turn, turn),
There is a Trump tweet (turn, turn, turn).A hypocritical contradiction,
For every purpose under heaven.A time to lie,
A time for war,
A time to impeach,
A time for golf,
A time to refrain from temptation —hmm, actually, scratch that one. https://t.co/4qUhaF0CDW— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) January 3, 2020
This is terrifying. https://t.co/40LEuFDthk
— Mckayla Wilkes for Congress (@MeetMckayla) January 3, 2020
He always accuses others of what he is thinking and what he would do. He might have just done this exact thing by killing the top Iranian general. Except he won’t get re-elected because no one in America wanted this insane war. https://t.co/QiEkcZWP8J
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) January 3, 2020
On Friday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that the attack on Soleimani was carried out because there was an “imminent threat” against American people if the Iranian general were left alive. The secretary noted that Trump “saved American lives” by making the decision to kill Soleimani.
