White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was left with the thankless task Thursday morning of explaining what President Obama meant when he said earlier this week that Iran’s “death to America” crowd shares “common cause” with Republicans.
Earnest’s go-to defense: To argue that Obama didn’t really say that Republicans who oppose the White House’s nuclear deal with Tehran share a “common cause” with Iranian extremists.
“I think what he did is make the point they are making the same argument that it’s hard-liners in Iran suggesting they should kill the deal and its Republicans here in Washington, D.C., suggesting the deal be killed,” Earnest said during an interview on MSNBC. “There’s no doubt they’re making the same argument.”
Contrary to the press secretary’s claims, however, Obama said quite clearly during a speech Wednesday at American University in Washington, D.C., that Iran’s “death to America” crowd shares “common cause” with Republicans.
He said it all in the same breath.
“I recognize the resorting to force may be tempting in the face of rhetoric and behavior that emanates from some parts of Iran. It is offensive,” the president said. “It is incendiary. We do take it seriously. But superpowers should not act impulsively in response to taunts. Or even provocations that can be addressed short of war.”
He added that Iran’s “death to America” crowd, which includes Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, does not speak for the whole of the country. There are more Iranians who disagree with this sentiment than agree, Obama assured his audience.
And then came the moment when the president tied extremists in Iran to the GOP: “In fact, it’s those hardliners who are most comfortable with the status quo. It’s those hardliners chanting ‘Death to America’ who have been most opposed to the deal. They are making a common cause with the Republican caucus.”
He then accused the “death to America” crew and Republicans of trying to block progress by standing in the way of the White House’s nuclear deal with Tehran. Obama said both of these extremist groups are trying to protect the status quo.
Unfortunately for Earnest, the “Morning Joe” panel had also heard the full context of Obama’s comments, meaning the press secretary’s defense didn’t go over so well Thursday morning.
“He said these are folks who are chanting death to America. He added that little phrase in there,” MSNBC’s Chris Jansing said.
The White House press secretary claimed that the president’s comments were spread apart, suggesting later that the commander in chief is being misunderstood by his critics.
Jansing again corrected Earnest.
“No, it wasn’t. I’ll read you the quote,” she said. “‘If those hardliners chanting death to America who have been most opposed to the deal they’re making common cause with the Republican caucus.’ It was all one sentence.”
