Nikki Haley Defends Her Remark That Democrats Are ‘Mourning’ the Death of Iranian’s Top General

When it comes to her comment that Democrats are “mourning” the death of Iranian top commander Qasem Soleimani, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is standing firm on it.

In the aftermath of the death of Soleimani — commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force — after a United States airstrike in Baghdad overnight last Thursday, many were split on their views of President Donald Trump’s orders. Several Democrats lashed out at Trump for the strike, while multiple Republicans came to the president’s defense.

However, Haley took aim at Democrats’ criticism, as she claimed on Fox News earlier this week that “the only ones that are mourning the loss of Soleimani are Democrat leadership and our Democrat presidential candidates.”

“No one else in the world, because they knew that this man had evil veins,” Haley said, adding, “They knew what he was capable of. And they saw the destruction and the lives lost based from his hands.”

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When confronted for her remark by The Dispatch Fact Check, Haley didn’t back away on it, as she chose to defend her comment.

The Dispatch labeled Haley’s initial remark as an inaccurate claim, for suggesting Democratic leaders and presidential contenders are “mourning” Soleimani. They cited former Vice President Joe Biden’s comment as an example, where he said, “No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing.”

“Mourning comes in different forms,” Haley’s office told The Dispatch.

The statement continued:

“It doesn’t have to be literally crying over the casket like Ayatollah Khamenei. Leading Democrats are aggressively arguing that we would be better off if Qassem Suleimani was still alive today. That is effectively mourning his death.”

“There is a stark difference between questioning the strategy of Suleimani’s killing and ‘mourning’ his death, the latter of which no prominent Democrat has done,” The Dispatch reports.