Rep. Anna Paulina Luna once again lives up to her name. The Trump sycophant made an appearance on MS Now’s The Weekend Primetime this Sunday, and was pressed by all of the hosts on the justification for Trump and Israel’s strikes on Iran and Trump’s refusal to go to Congress for authorization, and the MAGA apologist defended the strikes as “targeted” and “strategic” — not an act of war — and said Congress would not vote on a war declaration.
Luna’s nonsense drew lots of pushback from Catherine Rampell, Elise Jordan, and Ayman Mohyeldin.
After Luna insisted that “it is not the intention of the U.S. government to invade. That is not what is happening. These are isolated, strategic, large-scale attacks,” Rampell pushed back. “I’m sorry. You say it’s not the intention of the U.S. government to invade? Did we not just invade?”
“We are not invading. Are you saying boots-on-the-ground there? Because I’m not,” Luna insisted. “And I’ve been told directly by the State Department and the White House that that’s not the intention.”
The exchange grew heated at Rampell cut in: “I mean, we just killed the leader of the country.”
Luna continued to insist that “strategic military strikes and invasions are two totally different things,” and said she was told by Hegseth that “strategic strikes are not war,” which was countered by Rampell noting that even Trump was calling it a war.
Elise Jordan tried to inject some sanity into the conversation, telling her what she was saying makes on sense, and asking her if her standard for what constitutes a war is boots on the ground. Luna responded by saying Iran has “already declared war on the United States.”
After Jordan told her no one is defending the Iranian regime, and that instead we’re talking about the “standard for the commander in chief to commit our sons and daughters in the military to war,” Jordan pressed her on why she thought there was no Congressional authorization necessary when she had previously criticized Biden for bombing rebels in Yemen without Congressional authorization as well.
Luna insisted that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States because of their nuclear enrichment program… the one Trump supposedly “completely obliterated,” but I guess she forgot about that, before having this back and forth with Ayman Mohyeldin who made her look like a complete idiot as she tried to talk over him.
LUNA: I will firmly back the president. Secondly, what the president has been very specific about is that we will not put boots on the ground there, period. Case closed. We will not vote on having a war with Iran, because, as of right now, according to the plan, which I won’t say too much on television, but according to the three objectives that this administration outlined, everything is going according to plan.
And so if you are asking me whether or not I support what the president has done, I do. You just stated that the act of war would be if Americans were being killed. You said, what if a bomb went off in the United States, right?
For over 40 years, the Iranian government and regime has been responsible for the deaths of thousands upon thousands of Americans, not to mention state-sponsored terrorism. And so did the president do the right thing? Has he been consistent in this? Absolutely.
MOHYELDIN: Where, can you just tell me really quickly, where have they killed thousands of Americans in America?
LUNA: I didn’t say they killed thousands of Americans in America. I said that they have been responsible for thousands of Americans being killed.
MOHYELDIN: Where? Where?
LUNA: I think that’s something that you can easily verify. I don’t know, state-sponsored terrorism, for starters? Why don’t you—are you serious right now about that whole thing? I’m not going to list out exact specific locations they’ve literally been responsible for sponsored terrorism.
MOHYELDIN: If you can just give me… are you talking about the Iraq war or the U.S. invaded Iraq?
LUNA: Well, you can start about the three that they just killed, okay? The whole point of your network, if you want to actually talk about the facts here, I’m giving you the facts. But I’m not going to sit here and argue with you about something…
MOHYELDIN: You actually don’t have a good understanding of the facts, Congresswoman. You don’t have a good understanding of the conflict.
LUNA: Well, I’m one that’s getting the briefings, not you. You’re a pundit offering your opinion because you want clickbait but are actually interested in the substance.
MOHYELDIN: No, no, not at all.
LUNA: We can talk about the fact that Obama has sent millions upon millions of dollars to the Iranian regime. Or do you not want to address that because it’s not supported by your opinion and your network?
MOHYELDIN: No, not at all.
LUNA: I is this really even something that we’re gonna actually get to substance here, or are you gonna continue to attack us?
MOHYELDIN: It seems like you just want to filibuster. It seems like you don’t really want to have a good faith conversation.
LUNA: Or you just don’t like what I’m saying.
MOHYELDIN: No, no. We would have invited you on the air if…
LUNA: You do it every time I’m on with you.
MOHYELDIN: Yeah, and you keep coming on every time, and you keep stating a lot of things that are incorrect…
LUNA: Because I actually can talk to other people about it, except for you.
MOHYELDIN: The United States launched a war against Iran right now. Iran retaliated…
LUNA: It was targeted military strikes.
MOHYELDIN: You can call whatever you want to call it, but at the end of the day, the Iranians responded and killed three American service members. So what we’re trying to get at is you make an assertion on this air that it’s not an invasion when America sends fighter jets and Israel sends fighter jets into another country…
LUNA: Boots on the ground are not going to happen. Congress will not vote on war with Iran because that is not something that we support and that is not something that the administration supports.
MOHYELDIN: That’s actually what the Constitution says that in Article 1, but I guess you think Article 2 is more important.
LUNA: Article 2 is when the US citizens and our military are in direct imminent threat. The president reserves the authority to protect us…
MOHYELDIN: Well, he hasn’t made that case to the American public or Congress. That’s his problem and that’s why he’s supposed to go to Congress.
LUNA: … and that is exactly what. Well, he’s not to give you classified intelligence information…
MOHYELDIN: Well, he’s not supposed to give it to me. He’s supposed to go give it to members of Congress.
LUNA: What makes you think he hasn’t done that?
MOHYELDIN: You’re only one. There are 435 members and 100 senators, and others have not gotten it.
(crosstalk)
Anyway, unfortunately we’re out of time, but really appreciate you coming There you go.
LUNA: You don’t want to hear the facts. They got a briefing.
MOHYELDIN: It’s not a fact. I’m telling you what other members of Congress have said, and that’s the whole point of them being able to have a debate in Congress.
LUNA: They actually were notified. Congress was notified.
MOHYELDIN: That’s not what members of Congress said, but really appreciate you coming on here and saying something different.
She’s a moron and a liar and they shouldn’t be giving her airtime. She sounds just as delusional as Trump and warmonger Lindsey Graham.
