Kasie Hunt Confronts Jim Jordan With Old Trump Quote Criticizing Obama: ‘Our President Will Start a War With Iran’

CNN’s Kasie Hunt pressed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) over an old clip of President Donald Trump, where he slammed former then-President Barack Obama for failing to negotiate with Iran.

Jordan joined Thursday’s edition of The Arena to discuss the ongoing U.S. operation in Iran, and the future of the two week old campaign. The congressman told Hunt that Trump’s second term was characterized by fulfilling promises he made on the campaign trail, claiming the president would also keep his word on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Hunt pointed out that Trump had previously claimed Obama would start a war because he couldn’t negotiate with Iran, playing a series of clips of Trump’s words before pressing Jordan on the issue.

Read their exchange below:

HUNT: So you talked a little bit there about what the president said. I want to show you some of the things he said on the campaign trail, and even before he ended up on the presidential campaign trail. Let’s watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

TRUMP: Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate.

…

We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East.

…

We more and more are not wanting to be the policeman of the world.

…

I will expel the warmongers from our national security state.

….

We’re going to end these endless wars, endless wars.

…

They’re drafting you to go and fight in some country that I’ve never heard.

…

They said, you will start a war I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.” How is that an example of President Trump doing what he said he was going to do?

JORDAN: Kasie, he tried to. Go listen to the interview Mark Levin had with Steve Witkoff. They tried to negotiate with Iran, with the largest state sponsor of terrorism. They were willing to sit down with and try to figure this out, try to negotiate. And they could tell from those, quote, negotiations that Iran was committed to pursuing and getting a nuclear weapon. And they said there is no other alternative. Listen to that interview from the guy who was in the room with the people who run that country or who did run that country. So that is what– President Trump has done more than all the presidents combined you know, [Jimmy] Carter, [Ronald] Reagan, [George H.W.] Bush, [Bill] Clinton, [George W.] Bush, [Joe] Biden, all– Obama– all the presidents combined and stopping– he’s done more to stop Iran from getting this capability than all those other presidents combined. And he is also doing what he said on this–

HUNT: But is he not failing by his own metric–

JORDAN: During the campaign, he said during the campaign–

HUNT: He said when Obama was president–

JORDAN: –he would not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon.

HUNT: –”Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate.” That is what he said about Barack Obama. Then he comes into office. You’re saying, well, they tried to negotiate. He failed at negotiating, so he had to do the war that he said that he wouldn’t do.

JORDAN: No, he said no, Casey, he said he wasn’t going to let Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism, get a nuclear weapon. And that’s what he’s determined to do. And that is that that is the objective. That is the goal. And I think the American people understand that goal. We don’t want higher gas prices. We don’t want to have boots on– we don’t want all these things. But we also don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon.

Obama ultimately did negotiate with Iran and entered into the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under which Iran allowed inspections of its nuclear facilities. Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018.

Watch above via Fox News.

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