Before the 2012 presidential election, when former President Barack Obama was running for reelection, Donald Trump issued several warnings — among them, that Obama would start a war with Iran in order to win reelection.
Now, those comments are coming back to haunt Trump, after he signed off on the assassination of a top Iranian general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qassem Soleimani, that experts around the globe say could spark yet more violent conflict in the Middle East.
“Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate,” Trump said back in November 2011, in a video from his office in Trump Tower. “He’s weak and he’s ineffective, so the only way he figures that he’s going to get reelected, and as sure as you’re sitting there, is to start a war with Iran.”
Video from November 16, 2011. It’s creepy. You have to watch. “Our president will start a war with Iran…He's weak & ineffective. So the only way he figures that he's going to get reelected and is sure as you're sitting there is to start a war with Iran." pic.twitter.com/yKlMoFiand
— Eliza Orlins (@eorlins) January 3, 2020
Trump also tweeted the warning numerous times in October 2012, just ahead of the election.
“Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran,” Trump tweeted on Oct. 9, 2012. “He is desperate.”
“Don’t let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected — be careful Republicans!” Trump tweeted again on Oct. 22, 2012.
Those warnings appeared to be a harbinger of today, as Trump enters 2020 — the year he’ll face voters on the presidential ballot.
Trump’s approval rating is still hovering in the low 40 percent range — a worrisome sign for his reelection hopes. And he now faces the stain of impeachment, just the third president in history to have that mark on their record.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
