‘I Stand By What I Said!’: Republican Lawmaker Gets Testy as He’s Confronted on MS NOW With Past Statement on Iran

Things got heated on Morning Joe on Friday as Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) was confronted with a past statement on Iran negotiations under former President Joe Biden as he defended current negotiations by President Donald Trump and his administration.

Turner joined Morning Joe where he defended a 14-point agreement laid out between the United States and Iran, which was supposed to formally be signed by Vice President JD Vance in Switzerland on Friday, but that trip was postponed amid Israeli strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, an area covered in the ceasefire agreement.

The White House chalked up the postponement to logistical issues.

The deal has received bipartisan backlash, with even some of Trump’s most vocal supporters taking issue with what the agreement suggests Iran will receive, which would be a lifting of sanctions, a reconstruction investment fund, and more.

Turner argued on Friday that the agreement is an initial outline for a larger agreement.

Bulwark managing editor Sam Stein at one point read from a 2021 statement from Turner when he warned Biden should not reenter negotiations with Iran without “securing permanent prohibitions.” Turner was a critic of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated with Iran under former President Barack Obama.

Stein said:

The other thing I want to read is a statement you put out. Date is February 18th, 2021. This occurs in the context of the Biden administration deciding to restart negotiations with Iran after the Trump administration had pulled out of the JCPOA. As you know, the Biden administration considered trying to reenter it. You said in the statement, you said this, the JCPOA is a significantly flawed agreement where major provisions are set to expire and the Biden administration should not reenter into negotiations with Iran without securing permanent prohibitions. On Iran nuclear ambitions, to be clear, they should not reenter into negotiations, which is what the Trump administration is doing right now, without Iran without securing permanent prohibitions on nuclear ambitions. Do you consider Iran’s pledge, which they made during the JCPOA, which you criticized, that they will not seek a nuclear weapon to be a permanent prohibition on their nuclear ambitions? If not, what changed?

Turner responded by noting that Stein read from the JCPOA, which had a “10-year termination.”

“No, you just read that. You just read the JCPOA had a 10-year termination. I mean, you read the agreement,” he said.

“This is a 60-day MOU. Do you think that’s more permanent?” Stein shot back, referring to the memorandum of understanding agreement between the United States and Iran.

“The JCPOA specifically had a termination provision. The JCPOA terminated. It had an expiration provision. And there’s a significant difference between this agreement and what you’re reading in the JCPOA, and it’s called Midnight Hammer,” Turner said, referring to the 2025 military operation that targeted multiple Iranian nuclear sites.

“You’re right, this is a 60-day agreement, not a 10-year agreement,” Stein told Turner.

Turner argued the MOU is a framework for larger negotiations.

“That’s what was happening in 2021. Why did you criticize the Biden administration?” Stein asked.

“That agreement that you are reading allowed them to have the facilities that Trump just destroyed, those facilities underground were going to continue to enrich, had never been fully inventoried by the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Turner fired back. “And the agreement that the JCPOA had an expiration, including the provision that you just read that said they would never have a nuclear weapon, had an expiration in it. This agreement, this memorandum of understanding, is an agreement to go and have negotiations. That’s the difference.”

Turner then turned from Stein and focused his attention on Jonathan Lemire, signaling he was done with the debate.

“Exactly, but that was in 2021 when you criticized the Biden administration for entering negotiations,” Stein added.

“I stand by what I said!” a frustrated Turner said as he faced Stein again. “I don’t think you listened to yourself reading it.”

“It’s literally the text,” Stein said before Lemire jumped in and switched topics.

Watch above via MS NOW.

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