Sen. Tim Kaine condemned President Donald Trump for describing the ongoing war with Iran as a “little excursion,” calling the characterization deeply disrespectful to fallen American service members and their families.
Tim Kaine slams Donald Trump’s comment on Iran war
The Virginia senator’s remarks came after he viewed the dignified transfer of Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Pennington of Glendale, Kentucky, died from injuries sustained during an Iranian attack on a Saudi Arabian military base.
“You can’t watch that and feel that that way of characterizing this is deeply disrespectful,” Kaine told CNN. This comes after Donald Trump addressed House Republicans at his Doral golf resort in Florida, referring to the military engagement as a brief operation. “We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil,” Trump said. “And I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion.”
Kaine wasn’t alone in his criticism. He appeared on CNN alongside Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Cory Booker (N.J.), and Adam Schiff (Calif.), with the quartet demanding public hearings from Trump administration officials about the Iran war.
U.S. Central Command reported on Monday that strikes have targeted Iranian command centers, IRGC headquarters, and ballistic missile sites. Meanwhile, the Iran-based Human Rights Activists News Agency indicates over 1,240 Iranian civilians. It reportedly includes at least 194 children, have died from U.S. and Israeli strikes. “This president has been anything but clear from the very outset,” Baldwin said.
The four senators also highlighted financial concerns, noting that The Washington Post reported the first two days of strikes cost $5.6 billion. “Costs for average Americans are skyrocketing, and this president wants to spend tens of billions of dollars in his adventures overseas without coming to Congress,” Booker said (via The Hill).
Donald Trump or his administration hasn’t yet commented on these remarks.
