Lawmakers, media dinged for blaming Trump or ripping Israel on Iran: 'You think Kamala could've stopped them?'
Lawmakers and mainstream media figures were blasted online Friday morning over some of their responses to the development that Israel executed a widespread bombing campaign against key Iranian targets.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT., wrote on X that Israel's attack was "clearly intended to scuttle the Trump administration's negotiations with Tehran," and is "further evidence of how little respect world powers - including our own allies - have for President Trump."
Murphy, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe, was later mocked for using the situation to slam Trump:
"Do you think Israel respected Biden, Obama, or Bush? Now is not the time for a partisan bromide," one critic replied.
"You think Kamala could've stopped them?" riffed another.
Former Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner, D-Cleveland, an occasional media figure and former campaign staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., replied to Murphy's critics, saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "always wanted a broader war."
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"This was inevitable, given the U.S. foreign policy towards Israel. Arms embargo now," Turner added.
Left-wing former ESPN and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann informed Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on X that "your soul is lost" after the lawmaker celebrated Iran being attacked.
"Game on, pray for Israel," Graham originally wrote.
The oft-profane pundit did, however, receive some backhanded support from the right for the remarks, with one respondent saying, "you know society is about to collapse when I agree with Keith" – while another shared a "holy s---" meme featuring actor Keegan Michael Key.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who has become one of President Donald Trump's loudest critics, went after Trump's supporters following the bombings.
"Yesterday: Trump scared to death of action against Iran."
On X, several pro-Trump ripped Kinzinger, saying he "lives in a bottle," "was too scared to run for reelection" in his swing Kankakee district because of his break with Trump, and should "cry harder."
Kinzinger, however, did appear to celebrate Israel's killing of Iranian military commander Hossein Salami -- sharing a grinning GIF of the late Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain in response to a news alert.
Global Calls To Avoid Escalation Pour In After Israel Strikes On Iran
Several "Squad" members also got in on the action Friday, including Rep. Gregorio Casar of Texas.
Casar said Netanyahu's "reckless strike risks provoking a wider war and pulling in the United States."
He called on Trump to oppose Netanyahu's escalation and "not violate the Constitution" by involving U.S. troops without congressional approval.
Reaction to Casar was mixed, with some respondents asking what his own strategy would be, while one defender of the Austin lawmaker shared a meme of Trump dressed as a chambermaid standing aside Netanyahu in his office.
Meanwhile, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., actively sparred with critics of her statement that "regardless of what Trump thinks, Israel knows America will do whatever they want and feels confident about their ability to get into war and have the American government back them up."
"Everyone in America should prepare themselves to either see their tax dollars being spent on weapon supplies to Israel or be dragged into war with Iran if this escalates."
"Somalians belong in Somalia," one critic responded. "And in Congress," Omar shot back.
Olbermann Leads Liberal Meltdown Against Cnn, Calling To 'Burn It Down' After Biden's Performance
When another critic said she should focus more on issues in her Minneapolis district, the congresswoman replied, "I am focusing on my district and we don't believe our tax dollars should go to war. Thank for your input."
"This is all planned," tweeted "Squad" colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
"Both [U.S. and Israel] are liars."
Tlaib then claimed Jerusalem's government is "genocidal" and that "war criminal Netanyahu will do anything to maintain his grip on power."
"Squad" member Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., followed by tweeting support for her "Block the Bombs Act" to withhold weapons sales to Israel in response to actions in Gaza.
The far-left lawmaker, who took over longtime moderate Democrat Dan Lipinski's district, said that Netanyahu "cannot be trusted with offensive weapons that enable dangerous actions like what we saw last night."
Elsewhere on social media, other liberal figures were raging at the Trump administration for other recent developments, like the brief detainment of Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., after he crashed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's Los Angeles press conference.
Col. Alexander Vindman, now retired, but a key figure in the Trump-Ukraine impeachment saga and a twin brother of Rep. Yevgeny "Eugene" Vindman, D-Va., railed against Noem multiple times, calling her a "fascist b---h."
"Hey Kristi, f--- off," Vindman wrote.
Frequent "Special Report" All-Star panelist Mollie Hemingway responded to Vindman, remarking on how the mainstream media regularly characterized him as a "stable," nonpartisan whistleblower.Original article source: Lawmakers, media dinged for blaming Trump or ripping Israel on Iran: 'You think Kamala could've stopped them?'
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