Chuck Schumer Accidentally Says ‘No One Wants a Nuclear Israel,’ Then Corrects Himself

Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) momentarily confused reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday by telling them that nobody wants Israel to have nuclear weapons.

The senator then walked away, but returned and corrected himself after it appeared someone informed him of his slip-up.

Israel already has a nuclear weapons arsenal, which it has never officially acknowledged.

Congress is set to vote on War Powers resolutions this week after President Donald Trump ordered a massive bombing campaign of Iran in tandem with Israel that began on Saturday.

According to a report in The New York Times, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lobbied Trump into taking military action, even as the Trump administration was engaged in peace talks with Iran regarding nuclear enrichment. On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that the U.S. acted when it did because U.S. officials knew Israel was going to strike anyway.

A reporter asked Schumer whether Netanyahu had goaded Trump into war.

“Senator Schumer, do you think Israel forced the U.S.’s hand here?” he asked. “Boxed the U.S. in on this?”

“Look, no one wants a nuclear war,” Schumer replied. “No one wants a nuclear Israel. But we certainly do not want an endless war, plain and simple.”

Schumer walked away as someone off-camera got his attention.

The senator turned back toward reporters and asked, “What did I say?”

“Nuclear Israel,” the reporters told him.

“Oh, no,” Schumer said as reporters laughed. “Got it. Let me say that again. No one wants an endless war, but we certainly do not want a nuclear Iran. That’s for sure.”

The strikes have killed hundreds of Iranians and dozens of top officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In one strike on a school in southern Iran, more than 165 people were killed, most of them children.

In response to the attacks, Iran has bombed several U.S. targets in the region, including a base in Kuwait, killing six American service members.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

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