Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) blamed President Donald Trump for rising tensions with Iran, earning her a stinging rebuke from Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX).
“This is a shocking comment from a House Committee Chairwoman. She is literally repeating the lies of the Iranian regime. What a disgrace,” Crenshaw tweeted Sunday.
Picking sides
In a tweet Sunday, Waters claimed that a U.S. drone shot down by Iran last week was flying in Iranian airspace. A dispute has emerged between the U.S. and Iran over where the drone was flying when it was downed, with the U.S. saying it was in international airspace, and Iran asserting that the drone flew into its territory and that it was responding to a perceived provocation.
The United States narrowly averted a major conflict after President Trump ordered airstrikes on Iran, then called them off after being informed of the likely human toll. Trump said that the human casualties would be “disproportionate” to the loss of the unmanned drone.
While many have praised Trump’s restraint, Waters — who is known for her obsession with impeaching Trump and continued false accusations of collusion between Trump and Vladimir Putin — said in a tweet that the president should get no credit for calling the strike off and, echoing Iran, claimed that the drone entered Iranian airspace.
Trump, you get no credit for so-called stopping the strike against Iran. Why was the unmanned drone in Iran’s airspace? Why the surveillance? Don’t provoke and then pretend innocence.
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) June 23, 2019
It doesn’t seem that Waters has taken the time to consider where Trump’s collusion with Russia fits within his provocations against Iran, a key regional ally of the Kremlin. At any rate, her tweet earned a swift rebuke from Republican and former Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw, who accused her of “repeating the lies” of Iran.
“Maxine Waters’ hate for Trump runs so deep that she is willing to take Iran’s side over the word of our military,” he wrote.
Rising tensions
Tensions have escalated sharply between the U.S. and Iran in recent weeks. The U.S. has blamed Iran for attacks on six oil tankers in waterways near the Persian Gulf since May.
Last week, the U.S. announced it would be sending 1,000 troops to the Middle East after the latest attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, as Iran threatened to develop uranium stockpiles beyond the limits set in place by the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The Trump administration ripped up the accord last year, and has taken an aggressive tack toward the regime since then, imposing sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy amid an effort by the White House to isolate the country.
Trump ordered increased sanctions against Iran on Monday in response to Iran’s aggression, prompting Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, to fire back. However, media reports that Rouhani called President Trump “mentally retarded” seem to have been based on a mistranslation; Rouhani may have intended a less offensive phrasing, like “mentally disabled.”
On Tuesday, Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iran if it attacks “anything American” and on Wednesday, warned that war with Iran “wouldn’t last very long.” However, Trump said that he doesn’t envision “boots on the ground.”
Calling Dems out
For his part, Crenshaw, a popular figure with many Republicans, is known for his outspoken criticism of Democrats. He recently called out fellow Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for calling immigrant detention centers “concentration camps.”
“Clearly I need to explain that, in concentration camps, people are unjustly sought out and confined. This isn’t what is happening at the border. Migrants are illegally crossing our border. Most are asylum seekers, thus pending trial, so your expert definition doesn’t apply,” he tweeted.
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