Warren: Reasonable to Ask if Trump's Iran Strike Is a Distraction From Impeachment

Democratic presidential candidates are lambasting President Donald Trump’s decision to kill Iran’s top general in an airstrike, a move that has thrust foreign policy to the forefront of the primary and revived intraparty disputes over military intervention in the Middle East.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said the move "’increased the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict.” Warren, on “Meet the Press” Sunday also called into question the timing of Trump’s decision to kill Gen. Qassem Soleimani, connecting the decision to the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Trump.

"The question is why now?" Warren asked. "Why not a month ago? Why not a month from now? And the administration simply can’t keep its story straight. It points in all different directions."

"Do you believe that President Trump pulled the pulled the trigger on this operation as a way to distract from impeachment?" NBC host Chuck Todd replied. "Is that what you think?"

"I think it is a reasonable question to ask, particularly when the administration immediately after having taken this decision offers a bunch of contradictory explanations for what is going on," Warren answered.

Read more: Trump ends U.S. restraint with Soleimani assassination, and Iran won't hold back ■ Soleimani's mistake and Netanyahu's gain ■ To avert war with Iran, Trump will need all the strong nerves and sophistication he sorely lacks

Leading candidates in the Democratic primary were united in describing Soleimani as a murderer responsible for the deaths of Americans. But they also slammed Trump as reckless and ill-prepared for the consequences — and retaliation — likely to follow the killing.

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Former Vice President Joe Biden charged Thursday that Trump “tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed what he called a “dangerous escalation” that puts the United States “on the path to another war — potentially one that could be even worse than before.”