President Donald Trump threatened the death of Iran’s civilization on Tuesday, an escalation of his ongoing threats to commit international war crimes against that nation. Trump’s incendiary rhetoric validated long-running warnings from the Democratic Party about Trump issuing illegal orders to the U.S. military.
In a post to Truth Social Trump wrote, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” He added, “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”
Trump’s threats come just a few days after he said the U.S. would be targeting Iran’s civilian infrastructure, hitting facilities like energy plants, water treatment centers, and key roads and bridges. Targeting such structures is a war crime.
A coalition of Democrats in the Senate and House have been issuing warnings for months about behavior just like this:
In November, several senators and representatives who either served in the military or national security capacity released a video advising troops not to follow illegal orders. The administration had a meltdown in response, led by Trump who falsely said the Democrats had committed “treason.”
Since then, Trump has tried to seek retribution against the Democrats who released the video, specifically by targeting Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who served as a Navy captain during the first Gulf War. The administration has pushed to court martial Kelly and went after him in federal court. The crusade has been unpopular with the public and now Trump is validating the concerns expressed by the Democrats.
“Why did we attack Iran?” by Jack Ohman
Trump’s anti-civilization threat was rebuked by Democratic leaders.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the post was evidence Trump is “an extremely sick person” and added, “Each Republican who refuses to join us in voting against this wanton war of choice owns every consequence of whatever the hell this is.”
Ohio Rep. Shontel Brown said the post was “totally insane.” Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington wrote, “This threat is outrageous, dangerous, and unhinged.”
“There are 90 million people in Iran. Delivering on a fraction of this unhinged, insane threat would be the greatest war crime of all time,” wrote Illinois Rep. Sean Casten.
Before the threat, several Democratic representatives called for the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to be invoked. The amendment lays out the procedure for removal of the president after they are deemed unable to perform their constitutional duty.
Even some of Trump’s most outspoken supporters slammed his support for war crimes. Pundit Tucker Carlson said that the nuclear codes should be hidden from Trump. Far-right activist Candace Owens also called for the 25th Amendment in addition to calling Trump a “genocidal maniac.” Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Trump’s comments were “evil and madness” while conspiracy theorist Alex Jones released a “war crime alert” and said Trump was threatening genocide.
Both American and Iranian lives are under threat as events are unfolding in the direction that Democrats warned it would while Trump remains in office.
