CNN’s Abby Phillip Hits Trump Iran Deal With Punishing Side-by-Side Obama Video Receipts

CNN anchor Abby Phillip hit President Donald Trump’s Iran deal with side-by-side clips showing Vice President JD Vance bragging about a “major milestone” — that then-President Barack Obama announced over a decade ago.

Ever since Trump signed the Iran memorandum of understanding at the Palace of Versailles, the 14-point plan has been met with derision from across the political and ideological spectrum.

Many have compared it unfavorably to the deal Obama struck with Iran, which Trump tore up.

On Monday’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip highlighted the comparison with those video receipts, and asked, “Why is this some kind of breakthrough that JD Vance is touting?”:

PHILLIP: Tonight, the White House is touting a, quote, big deal in its talks with Iran, but the breakthrough is something that was in Barack Obama’s nuclear deal that President Trump tore up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: This is probably what we’re most excited about as Americans. The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country. That is a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: For decades, inspectors will have access to Iran’s entire nuclear supply chain, from the uranium mines and mills where they get raw materials to the centrifuge production facilities where they make machines to enrich it.

And under the terms of the deal, inspectors will have the permanent ability to inspect any suspicious sites in Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Back in 2015, Republicans criticized President Obama’s nuclear deal, claiming it gave billions in cash to Iran. It actually was their own assets that were unfrozen. But Trump today said that he has lifted sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil for the next 60 days, and for the first time in decades, the United States is allowing oil to be imported into this country.

A reminder, just last month, the State Department announced new sanctions on Iran’s trading oil with China, and it argued that Iran’s oil trade was the primary revenue stream for Iranians to fund terrorism and regional destabilization.

So, I don’t know. I mean, I guess if the benchmark is, how do we fix things that were — that we broke, maybe this is a big deal. But not only was the IAEA inspections part of the Iran nuclear deal, but IAEA inspectors were in Iran up until last summer, right at the point at which Operation Midnight Hammer happened, and then it was after that that they left the country because the Iranian government shut down their access to nuclear sites as a result of the U.S. attacks on Iran.

So, why is this some kind of breakthrough that JD Vance is touting?

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!