Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was grilled on MS NOW this week after she made the claim that Iran is responsible for the deaths of “thousands” of Americans, which she couldn’t back up with specifics.
On the show “MS NOW,” anchor Ayman Mohyeldin repeatedly asked Rep. Luna to specify where Iran killed “thousands of Americans,” particularly within the United States’ borders. Rep. Luna did not specify this, extending her statement to cover Iran’s role in conflicts outside the United States and state-sponsored terrorism.
“Can you tell me where Iran killed thousands of Americans in America?” Anchor Ayman Mohyeldin asked Rep. Luna.
“I said they are responsible for thousands of Americans being killed,” Rep. Luna responded.
“Where?” The anchor asked Rep. Luna.
“Are you serious right now?” Rep. Luna responded before accusing the anchor of not wanting to have a good-faith conversation.
Dispute Over Scope of the Claim
The anchor asked Rep. Luna to clarify her statement regarding Iran killing thousands of Americans within the United States’ borders.
“Where can you just tell me, really quickly, where they killed thousands of Americans in America?” The anchor asked Rep. Luna.
“I didn’t say they killed thousands of Americans in America,” Rep. Luna responded. “I said that they have been responsible for thousands of Americans being killed. And I think that’s easily something that you can verify. State-sponsored terrorism for starters.”
When asked by the anchor to specify where this occurred, Rep. Luna did not respond.
“I’m not going to list out exact specific locations,” Rep. Luna responded before extending her statement to say that this is something that is “commonly accepted and known.”
Reference to Iraq War and Recent Casualties
Luna appeared to reference the Iraq War and the recent U.S. casualties in the Middle East.
“Are you talking about the Iraq war? You can start by the three that they just killed,” Luna said, pointing to the three American service members killed in the recent hostilities following U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.
The reference comes as tensions escalate following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets, with Iranian retaliation killing the three U.S. service members.
Mohyeldin shot back that Luna’s statement appeared to be a sweeping accusation with little basis.
“It seems like you actually don’t have a good understanding of the facts, Congresswoman,” Mohyeldin said.
“Well, I’m the one getting the briefings, not you,” Luna shot back. “You’re a pundit offering your opinion because you want clickbait.”
Clash Over War Powers
The interview also addressed war powers and whether Congress had approved the U.S. actions.
“The United States launched a war against Iran right now,” Mohyeldin said. “Iran retaliated.”
“It was targeted military strikes,” Luna responded. “You can call it whatever you want, but at the end of the day, the Iranians responded and killed three American service members.”
The interview referenced Congress and whether or not they had approved the U.S. sending fighter jets into another nation, which Mohyeldin referred to as an act of war.
“Congress will not vote on the issue of going to war with Iran because that is not something that we support and that the administration supports,” Luna said, referencing the Constitution’s Article II and the president’s authority to act if U.S. forces are under an imminent threat.
“That’s actually what the Constitution says in Article I,” Mohyeldin countered, citing Congress’s power to declare war. “He’s supposed to go to Congress.”
Luna, however, argued that Congress had been informed of the matter.
“There was actually a briefing,” she said. “You don’t want to hear the facts.”
Mohyeldin, meanwhile, cited other Congress members’ claims that they were not given sufficient justification for the strikes.
“You’re only one. There are 435 members and 100 senators,” he said to Luna. “You’re not the only one who gets to speak for the American people.”
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