Ex-Clinton official applauds Trump's 'courageous' Iran call, doubts Harris would've had the nerve
A former Clinton-era National Security Council staffer broke with his party and heaped praise on President Donald Trump's successful strikes on Iran over the weekend, while remarking former Vice President Kamala Harris would have likely lacked the "courage" to execute such a mission if she were commander-in-chief.
"I am not a fan of many of Donald Trump's actions, but I will speak openly and honestly when he takes bold steps defending America's interests, as he did tonight," Jamie Metzl, founder of the international social group One Shared World, posted to X on Saturday evening.
Metzl served on former President Bill Clinton's National Security Counci and was former President Joe Biden's deputy staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he heaped praise on Trump repeatedly on X over the weekend, while also taking a shot at Harris' lack of "courage and fortitude."
"But I'm not a blind tribalist and am perfectly comfortable praising President Trump for bold and courageous actions in support of America's core national interests, as he took last night," Metzl posted to X on Sunday morning.
"Although I believe electing Kamala Harris would have been better for our democracy, society, and economy, as well as for helping the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world, I also believe VP Harris would not have had the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took last night," he added.
Metzl continued in his X messages that "Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years," and was aiming to build a nuclear weapon with the intention of wielding it over the U.S and its allies.
"Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years. Its regime has murdered thousands of American citizens. Its slogan 'death to America' was not window dressing but core ideology. It was racing toward a nuclear weapon with every intention of using it to threaten America, our allies, and the Middle East region as a whole. No actions like this come without risks, and I imagine the story will get more complicated over time, but that's why these types of decisions are complicated," he wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to Harris' office regarding Metzl's post, but did not immediately receive a reply.
Metzl's comments are among a cacophony of Democratic elected officials and traditional anti-MAGA voices who have come out to praise Trump since the successful attack on Iran, dubbed "Operation Midnight Hammer."
"The destruction of Iran's nuclear program is essential to ultimate peace in the Middle East. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue — dealing with the Iranian threat is central to America's national security. The world is safer because of the actions of our brave service members. I'm praying for the safety of our service members in the region," New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer said in a statement over the weekend, for example.
"As I've long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS," Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman wrote on X on Saturday. "Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I'm grateful for and salute the finest military in the world."
While New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, a frequent Trump critic, wrote in an opinion piece that Trump made a "courageous and correct decision that deserves respect, no matter how one feels about this president," while fellow Times columnist David French also said it was the "right decision" on social media.
Other Democrats and frequent Trump critics, such as New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, have slammed Trump over the strikes, arguing they bypassed Congress.
Trump announced the Saturday evening strikes on Iran in a Truth Social post that was not preceded by media leaks or speculation that strikes were imminent. The unexpected social media post was followed just hours later by a brief Trump address to the nation while flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
"A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan," Trump said from the White House late on Saturday in an address to the nation regarding the strikes. "Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success."
The strikes "obliterated" Iranian nuclear facilities and backed the nation into a corner to make a peace deal, Trump said. This mission was also celebrated by Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine as one that was cloaked in secrecy and intentionally deceptive to confuse the enemy.
"It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security. Our B-2s went in and out of… these nuclear sites, in and out and back, without the world knowing at all," Hegseth said. "In that way, it was historic."
The operation included the longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001, the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown and the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, Hegseth and Caine said during the Sunday press conference.
Operation Midnight Hammer followed Israel launching preemptive strikes on Iran on June 12 after months of attempted and stalled nuclear negotiations and subsequent heightened concern that Iran was advancing its nuclear program. Netanyahu declared soon afterward that the strikes were necessary to "roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival."
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