Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) made a bold statement that is bound to draw a rebuke from some.
During a Fox Business Network “Lou Dobbs Tonight” interview on Wednesday evening, Collins claimed that Democrats are “in love with terrorists.”
His remarks come nearly a week after Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was killed in an overnight airstrike, authorized by President Donald Trump, last Thursday in Baghdad. Since, tensions between the two countries have escalated, though Trump said on Wednesday in his address to the nation that Iran “appears to be standing down.”
The overnight strike at the end of last week drew criticism from Democrats for the move, while some Republicans stood by the president’s side on it.
Collins, however, took aim at Democrats, as he claimed, “They are in love with terrorists.”
“We see that they mourn Soleimani more than they mourn our Gold Star families who are the ones who suffered under Soleimani,” he continued. “That’s a problem.”
Collins’ comments come in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stating that the House will be voting on a “War Powers Resolution” in hopes of limiting Trump’s military actions against Iran. The vote is expected to take place on Thursday.
“This is just another again blatant, hypocritical act by Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats because they don’t like the president,” Collins added.
See Collins’ comments below:
To those criticizing @realDonaldTrump's strike on Soleimani: What would you say to the Gold Star families who have lost loved ones because of Soleimani's attacks?
— Doug Collins (@RepDougCollins) January 8, 2020
What would you say to the veterans at Walter Reed who lost limbs because of the IEDs he provided? pic.twitter.com/gp8obVa2Iu
Collins isn’t the only Republican that has made the accusation against Democrats, as former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley recently suggested, “The only ones that are mourning the loss of Soleimani are Democrat leadership and our Democrat presidential candidates.”
Haley then stood firm on her claim, as she doubled down in saying, “Mourning comes in different forms.”
“It doesn’t have to be literally crying over the casket like Ayatollah Khamenei,” she told The Dispatch Fact Check. “Leading Democrats are aggressively arguing that we would be better off if Qassem Suleimani was still alive today. That is effectively mourning his death.”
Their comments come after former Vice President Joe Biden said, “No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing.” Additionally, 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Deval Patrick said in response to last week’s airstrike, “[Soleimani] was responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, including Americans, and his death will not be mourned by me.”
