John Kirby Defends Biden Record On Iran To Shannon Bream By Saying ‘Vaunted’ Missile Program ‘Not So Vaunted Last Night’
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby defended President Joe Biden’s record on Iran to host Shannon Bream, arguing that the “vaunted” Iranian ballistic missile program isn’t “so vaunted” because nearly all the missiles and drones in the attack were shot down.
When Bream asked him whether it wouldn’t be better that they couldn’t launch in the first place, however, Kirby deflected by pointing the finger at Donald Trump.
Kirby joined Bream for the latest edition of Fox News Sunday in the hours after Iran’s unprecedented drone and ballistic missile attack on Israel. The IDF and U.S. intelligence have confirmed that nearly all of the drones and missiles launched at Israel were struck down before they could do any damage, most of them before even coming close to civilian air space.
Many intelligence commentators have stated that the retaliation by Iran was “performative” and “telegraphed,” but Kirby brought up the lack of success to indicate that Biden’s policies toward Iran are working.
“Okay, so they launched more than 100 ballistic missiles. And how many got through? And the reason it didn’t get through was because President Biden made sure that we pre-positioned forces in the region to help Israel shoot them down,” he said. “So this vaunted ballistic missile program of theirs didn’t turn out to be so vaunted last night.”
“But why not support something that would have stopped that program? Or at least contained it in some way so it’s not launching in Israel, and we aren’t having to get it involved defensively to stop it,” Bream asked.
In reply, Kirby reiterated his previous comments on the show, which he would repeat again before the interview ended, that President Biden has been tough on Iran. He also suggested that if anyone was soft on Iran, it was the Trump administration.
Despite his dismissal of the seriousness of the attack to Bream, Kirby elsewhere described the success of Israel’s defenses as an “incredible military achievement.”
BREAM: You know the conversations about unfreezing assets, about waivers on sanctions.
KIRBY: Yeah.
BREAM: Could this administration have been tougher on Iran? Did it sense an opening?
KIRBY: It’s hard to look at what President Biden has done with respect to Iran and say that he hasn’t been tough on Iran, or that we haven’t put pressure on them, that we haven’t — additional 500 sanctions, additional resources in the region.
BREAM: But also relieving sanctions.
KIRBY: And let’s take a look at that ballistic missile. Okay, so they launched more than 100 ballistic missiles. And how many got through? And the reason it didn’t get through was because President Biden made sure that we pre-positioned forces in the region to help Israel shoot them down. So this vaunted ballistic missile program of theirs didn’t turn out to be so vaunted last night.
BREAM: But why not support something that would have stopped that program? Or at least contained it in some way so it’s not launching in Israel, and we aren’t having to get it involved defensively to stop it.
KIRBY: Again, Shannon, just look at the sanctions that we put in place against Iran, look at the resources we put in this into the region. It’s hard to take a look at what President Biden has done and say that we somehow gone soft on Iran. It was the previous administration that decided to to get us out of the Iran deal. And now Iran is so much dramatically closer to a potential nuclear weapon capability than they were before, before Mr. Trump was elected.
Watch the clip above via Fox News.
