Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told former Fox News Host Bill O’Reilly that he should be blamed if America’s Iran operation ends unsuccessfully during a Thursday episode of “We’ll Do It Live!”
Graham has faced backlash for his hawkish foreign policy, including in the lead-up to and during the Iran conflict. When O’Reilly asked on his show whether he believed the operation would be “successful,” Graham expressed optimism.
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“Yes. If we’re not, blame me ’cause I deserve blame,” Graham told O’Reilly. “If we’re not successful, you can blame me because nobody has advocated to take on this Iranian regime more forcefully than me.”
The U.S. and Israel initiated Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior leaders.
Graham in January directed a warning toward Iran’s ayatollahs on Fox News’ “Hannity,” asserting President Donald Trump would “kill” them if they persisted in slaughtering Iranian protesters. He also pushed for regime change.
“Change is coming to Iran, it’ll be the biggest change in the history of the [Middle] East to get rid of this Nazi regime,” Graham said. “To the people of Iran, help is on the way.”
SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly rebuked Graham after his remarks during a January interview with Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson on “The Tucker Carlson Show.”
“What Lindsey Graham stands for is deeply disturbing to me. And that stuff about the ayatollah, — ‘our president is going to come kill you’ —would you just stop? … hey, as far as I know, Lindsey Graham doesn’t have teenaged children who are going to have to go fight his war he now wants against Iran,” Kelly told Carlson. “But I do. And you have kids in their 20s. And some of us actually have a real stake in making sure that does not happen. We do not want that.”
Moreover, Graham reportedly made multiple trips to Israel to gather information for his push to influence Trump to strike Iran. During the trips, he convened with members of Israel’s spy agency.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon requested over $200 billion to fund the Iran conflict, which would likely be a tough sell to Congress.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Thursday told the Daily Caller that former President Joe Biden depleted America’s military stockpiles to support Ukraine when asked about spending on the Iran conflict.
Trump has also expressed optimism about America winning the war with Iran and suggested that the conflict could end shortly. Fuel prices have surged amid Iran’s efforts to impede the Strait of Hormuz.
Former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Joe Kent resigned on Tuesday over the conflict, arguing Iran presented no “imminent threat.”
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