Lawrence O'Donnell Blasts Tulsi Gabbard Over Iran War Testimony: 'That Is Simply Perjury'
On Wednesday, MS NOW host Lawrence O'Donnell took aim at Tulsi Gabbard, a prominent figure in the MAGA movement, for her controversial statements regarding the Iran war. O'Donnell's critique centered on Gabbard's assertion that U.S. military actions had effectively neutralized Iran's nuclear capabilities, which he labeled as “perjury.”
“There was obviously no imminent threat to the United States coming from Iran that justified Donald Trump starting a war,” O'Donnell stated, referencing Joe Kent's resignation letter from the National Counterterrorism Center.
During his “Last Word” segment, O'Donnell scrutinized Gabbard's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where she claimed that U.S. strikes in June had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. This echoed Trump’s earlier assertions about the “Operation Midnight Hammer” strikes, which he used to justify military action against Iran.
“It would have been so easy for Tulsi Gabbard to say, ‘I agree with the president’s judgment that there was an imminent threat,’” O'Donnell remarked. “She refused to do that, refused to tell that lie for Donald Trump.”
He further argued, “In refusing to do that, she is actually defying Donald Trump, not protecting him. And of course, she is also lying when she said that the only person who can determine what is and isn’t an imminent threat is the president. That is simply perjury.”
Gabbard maintained her stance during the hearing. When questioned by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) about whether the intelligence community shared Trump's assessment of an imminent nuclear threat from Iran, she responded, “Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president.”
Ossoff reminded her of her earlier statement regarding the obliteration of Iran’s nuclear facilities and asked if the intelligence community still viewed Iran as an imminent threat. Gabbard replied, “It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat. That is up to the president based on a volume of information that he receives.”
O'Donnell expressed his frustration after airing clips of Gabbard's testimony. He pointed out discrepancies in her statements, noting, “In the written version of Tulsi Gabbard’s opening statement to the committee, she said, ‘As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was obliterated. There has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capabilities.’”
He continued, “So that was Tulsi Gabbard saying of course Iran had no nuclear capability whatsoever when Donald Trump launched his war, but for some reason she left that line out of her opening statement when she spoke her statement to the committee.”
When asked if she omitted that part due to Trump's recent reiteration of an imminent threat, Gabbard explained that she “skipped through some of the portions” of her oral remarks because “the time was running long.”
For those interested in more details, the full segment from “Last Word” can be found on MS NOW’s YouTube channel.
