Chris Hayes: 'Absolutely no reason' for people to trust Trump's 'imminent threat' claim about Soleimani
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MSNBC host Chris Hayes ridiculed President Trump's claim that Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani posed an "imminent threat," arguing that the administration couldn't be trusted given its repeated lies about other matters.
"There is absolutely no reason for anyone in the U.S. to credit anything the president or his administration says about matters of life and death and war and peace until it is demonstratively verified. Full stop," he said Friday.
Hayes' comments came after the administration claimed that Soleimani was plotting to take American lives in Iraq and killed him in an act of self-defense. Doing so, the administration argued, was a form of de-escalation -- a claim Hayes called ridiculous.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'm sorry but no one can honestly believe that," Hayes said. Hayes pointed to Iranian leaders vowing to retaliate, and the State Department's own advisory telling Americans to "immediately" leave Iraq.
Former Acting CIA Director Mike Morell predicted Friday that Soleimani's death would ultimately come at a high cost, with Iran retaliating and killing American civilians.
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Morell speculated that Iran wouldn't strike American forces, but instead would turn "loose" their proxies in the region. "There will be dead Americans -- dead civilian Americans as a result of this, possibly over the next few days -- in any place where Iran has its proxies," he told CBS on Friday.
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Trump defended the decision, tweeting Friday that "General Qassem Soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more ... but got caught!"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He was directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people," he said.