A Fox News host blamed Vice President JD Vance — and not President Donald Trump — for a deal with Iran that he deemed too weak.
Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade made the remarks Wednesday during an interview with Alex Gray, who served as chief of staff of the White House National Security Council under Trump.
"It doesn't look like Iran's been brought to its knees," Kilmeade said. "It seems like Iran got a lot out of it that many people weren't expecting."
"Maybe the president wasn't even expecting" the outcome, Kilmeade continued, "because he's got enough plates in the air that he can't be into every detail."
"I just wonder if the vice president, who was against this by all reports — was against the conflict to begin with — maybe wasn't the right person to bring this conflict to an end," Kilmeade added, turning his fire on Vance rather than Trump.
Trump and Vance agreed to the terms of a memorandum of understanding with Iran on Sunday that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and set up 60 days of nuclear negotiations — but leaves Iran's enrichment program unresolved. The deal is set to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland. Vance acknowledged on Hannity that "a lot of the technical details we're gonna figure out over the next month, over the next two months."
Senate Republicans have been equally critical. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) warned Trump he was "being ill-advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on." Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Obama team could have negotiated the emerging deal.
According to Israeli media, senior U.S. officials were divided on the agreement — with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe all expressing doubts about Iranian compliance.
The two sides have 60 days to negotiate the fate of Iran's nuclear enrichment program.