Trump’s old tweets about Obama striking Iran for re-election come back to haunt him
A number of President Donald Trump's old tweets that claimed his predecessor Barack Obama would bomb Iran to boost his polling numbers are going viral again after a U.S. airstrike that killed Iran's top general.
Trump only tweeted an image of an American flag following the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport on Friday morning.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020
The Trump administration-directed assassination of the senior Iranian commander was conducted without congressional authority and sparked fears among top-ranking Democrats that the U.S. could be about to enter another war.
People on Twitter quickly pointed out how Trump in 2011 and 2012 had repeatedly claimed Obama was about to enter a conflict with Iran in a bid to win re-election.
"Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate...So the only way he figures he's going to get reelected, and as sure as you're sitting there, is to start a war with Iran." pic.twitter.com/CCKsY7SKoV
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) January 3, 2020
In order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2011
Now that Obama's poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2012
Polls are starting to look really bad for Obama. Looks like he'll have to start a war or major conflict to win. Don't put it past him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2012
Don't let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected--be careful Republicans!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Trump continued with the claim during Obama's second term in office.
I predict that President Obama will at some point attack Iran in order to save face!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 16, 2013
In other posts, however, he described the former president as a "friend" to Iran.
The resurfacing of Trump's old tweets inevitably trended online:
There truly is a tweet for everything. https://t.co/24mC1Xi4mb
— Vicky Ward (@VickyPJWard) January 3, 2020
There's always a tweet. Only this time Trump is likely to get a lot of people killed. https://t.co/oUxtYTGAqL
— 5 Calls 🇺🇸 (@make5calls) January 3, 2020
"There's Always a Tweet" feels flippant on a night like this. But given the president's mindset in this old tweet, it's hard not to wonder about his mindset in carrying out a drone strike to kill an Iranian general 48 hours into the 2020 election year. https://t.co/fFVtg4AhmP
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) January 3, 2020
And there's no question that Trump will use his attack on Gen. Soleimani in political events going forward to rally his supporters. https://t.co/BGxEM6btU2
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) January 3, 2020
#PerpetuallyProjectinghttps://t.co/7B0t72Liwv
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 3, 2020
This is terrifying. https://t.co/40LEuFDthk
— Mckayla Wilkes for Congress (@MeetMckayla) 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
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
Citizen Donald J. Trump tweeted this 👇 in 2011: https://t.co/CPsIqA6Y4V
— Rafael Romo (@RafaelRomoCNN) January 3, 2020
Nope, that would be you https://t.co/FNjlEOrs6E
— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) January 3, 2020
This article first appeared on HuffPost.
