On CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, commentator Scott Jennings mocked a Democrat for suggesting Iran wasn't a threat by using the phrase "fiery but mostly peaceful Iranian butchers."
The Democrat was new CNN pundit Xochitl Hinojosa (they pronounced it like "Sochi"), who was until recently a spokesperson at Biden's Department of Justice, and before that did communications for the DNC during the first Trump term.
Like most Democrats, she was insisting that the president needs congressional approval -- and never mind that for one, President Obama approved hundreds of drone strikes without Congress.
Fill-in host Kasie Hunt noted that Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) praised the attack on Iranian nuclear facilities: "The world is safer because of the actions of our brave service members." Hunt asked how widespread that view would be among Democrats. Hinojosa changed the subject:
XOCHITL HINOJOSA: Normally you would need congressional approval for something like this and I know that my friend here is laughing a little bit But I will say.
SCOTT JENNINGS: Yes, I am laughing.
KASIE HUNT: I’ve covered Congress for a long time, they gave a lot of that away.
Technically, under the War Powers Act of 1973, the president is required to notify Congress -- which Trump did -- and must terminate the use of troops within 60 days. This is where Jennings dropped his phrase:
HINOJOSA: So what will be critical in the weeks to come is, Congress must see the underlying intelligence about how they were in direct threat and how the U.S. Needed to respond without congressional approval. But as of right now, I have not seen that.
JENNINGS: You’re arguing that after 46 years of the Iranian regime killing Americans, threatening Americans, saying over and over and again, ‘death to America’ — that maybe they were just didn’t mean it? That they’re fiery but mostly peaceful Iranian butchers? I mean, I don’t understand. This is a righteous strike.
This is a little daring, since it was CNN who aired the "Fiery But Mostly Peaceful" lingo with reporter Omar Jimenez standing in front of blazing fires in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Earlier, Jennings made that full-throated endorsement of Trump that surely sickens the average CNN viewer:
I mean, Donald Trump has been clear-eyed and full of resolve about the Iranian threat for 20 years. He has always said you can't have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. And I would also say that my observations of him over the last few months are that things are running quite smoothly over in the White House and at the Pentagon. Look what happened, the deception that was involved here, no leaks, the resolve, the precision, execution.
We have a commander in chief right now who is decisive and who knows how to operate a government and operate a military operation with absolute precision. The level of deterrence that this will put throughout the world that our enemies should be perceiving is very, very high. This is a great day for this president. And it's a great day for the world, because he's making us safe for Western civilization.
