Kellyanne Conway found herself in an uncomfortable position on Monday morning after a reporter grilled her about President Donald Trump’s threat to commit war crimes against Iran.
Over the weekend, Trump directly threatened to bomb cultural and historic sites across Iran in retaliation for any actions they may take in response to his killing of General Qasem Suleimani.
When given the chance to walk back his threat on Sunday, Trump doubled down instead.
Bombing cultural and historic sites is a war crime under international and American law, and such actions would likely inflame the Middle East and the world in opposition to the United States.
When asked about the threats, Kellyanne Conway lied by claiming Trump had not made such statements. But reporter Andrew Feinberg confronted her with Trump’s words and pointed out that Trump has pardoned soldiers accused of and convicted of war crimes, actions that make it clear Trump supports war crimes.
This left Conway virtually speechless as she could only claim to not know how to answer and referred Feinberg to Trump.
JUST NOW: I asked @KellyannePolls if @realDonaldTrump was aware that targeting Iranian cultural sites violates US law and @DeptofDefense policy, she referred me back to @SecPompeo’s false statement that POTUS hadn’t said that. I reminded her that he contradicted Pompeo on AF1… pic.twitter.com/Go5yUeMUbi
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) January 6, 2020
…hours later.
When I pointed out that @realDonaldTrump pardoned soldiers accused of and convicted of war crimes and asked her if he thought war crimes were a thing, she said “I don’t know how to answer that.”
I suggested she ask the President.
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) January 6, 2020
Of course, Kellyanne could always ask her husband for the answer since he’s been retweeting criticism of Trump’s threat to commit war crimes all weekend, and even spelled out the law on the matter.
Certain war crimes under international law—in particular, attacking cultural sites with resulting death—would constitute capital offenses under the criminal code of the United States of America. https://t.co/j8b4QHUhtb
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 5, 2020
See 18 U.S.C. § 2441: https://t.co/wVsxguxN0Q
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 5, 2020
She would be wise to listen. Because The Hague won’t let Trump’s cronies off the hook for aiding and abetting his war crimes if he follows through on his threats.
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