‘Damning Admission’: Chris Hayes Calls Out Reports That Trump Linked Soleimani Airstrike to Shoring Up GOP Support Against Impeachment Trial

MSNBC host Chris Hayes called out President Donald Trump’s motivations behind last week’s fatal airstrike on Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, pointing to two recent reports that Trump himself linked the killing to shoring up support from Senate Republicans in his upcoming trial for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

On his live Friday night show, Hayes’ opening monologue referenced the 1997 political comedy Wag the Dog, which was cited by critics of President Bill Clinton when he launched a four-day bombing campaign of Iraq in the midst of his 1998 House impeachment vote. Clinton, skeptics suggested, was conveniently timing the US military operation to rally support for his rocky political fortunes.

“In 2011, the idea that President [Barack] Obama might start war with Iran was a constant theme in Donald Trump’s comments and his Tweets,” Hayes also noted. “One thing that is definitively established is it is the case that Donald Trump thought one way an American president could turn things around politically would be to start a war with Iran.”

The MSNBC host noted that this history is particularly relevant now, with Trump facing his own impeachment trial in the Senate, after having just launched a highly controversial killing of Iran’s Quds Force commander.

This is not mere speculation, either, as Hayes pointed to two recent news stories, one in the New York Times and one in the Wall Street Journal, that reported Trump himself has privately admitted that the idea of preventing Senate GOP defections colored his decision to attack and kill Soleimani.

“Think about that for a second,” Hayes said. “Two different news sources reporting the president is literally telling people, he almost started a war with Iran to shore up Republican votes in the Senate for his impeachment trial. What a damning admission by the man himself.”

“Even if it’s not the rationale,” Hayes continued, “he is telling people that he takes war so lightly, he is so appallingly glib about his own duty that he will order up an airstrike that might lead to all-out war in order to secure a few more votes for his impeachment trial. That’s what he’s saying about himself.”

“So when you look at all the facts that led up to this strike and the moment we’re in, there are two main possibilities,” Hayes concluded. “One is this. This was a good faith action taken by the president with the national interest in mind. The other is that this was done for the president’s political survival. And you get to decide which one it is.”

“Ask yourself what you believe.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.

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