Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA via AP Images
The White House deceptively edited a video of U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s March testimony on Wednesday to make it look like she was warning that Iran was close to developing nuclear weapons.
“In the past year, we’ve seen an erosion of a decades-long taboo in Iran on discussing nuclear weapons in public, likely emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran’s decision-making apparatus,” said Gabbard in a clip posted by the White House’s Rapid Response account. “Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”
While the clip made it look like Gabbard was warning that Iran was close to developing nuclear weapons, it was edited to exclude a moment from just seconds before, where Gabbard declared that the U.S. intelligence community had assessed that Iran was “not building a nuclear weapon” and that neither had Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei authorized the development of one.
“The IC
Asked about Gabbard’s testimony on Tuesday, which seemed to conflict with his suggestion that Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon, Trump snapped, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.”
Gabbard published a video earlier this month warning that the “political elite and warmongers” were “carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers” and pushing the world “closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever.”
Politico reported that the video had enraged Trump, who responded by “complaining to associates at the White House that she had spoken out of turn.”
Gabbard insisted this week that she and the president were on “the same page” about Iran.