Jen Psaki in disbelief over JD Vance's bizarre Iran comparison: 'What on earth?'
MS NOW's Jen Psaki broke down many of Vice President JD Vance's answers to reporters concerned about the details of the Trump administration's "ceasefire" with Iran — and was taken aback by many of his answers, particularly his explanation why the United States was okay with considering a "right to enrichment" of nuclear materials to Iran on some level, something Trump insists isn't actually on the table even as Iran treats it like a done deal.
"Vance ... was today being asked a very valid question about when the Strait would reopen," said Psaki, rolling the clip.
"Mr. Vice President, Iran is continuing to block the Strait of Hormuz. Do you have an expectation of when that strait is going to be open?" asked a reporter.
"Well, we've already seen an increase in traffic today," said Vance. "Hopefully we'll see an increase in traffic tomorrow. We actually think that we are seeing signs that the straits are starting to reopen."
"Okay, so we've seen an increase in traffic today. That's what the vice president just said," said Psaki. "As I mentioned before, Bloomberg reports that just three ships were observed leaving the region, at least two of which had ties to Iran. Iran is publicly claiming that the Strait remains closed. They're continuing, as far as we know, to charge fees to people who want to go through. But J.D. Vance has nothing to worry about. All signs are positive. Then he was asked another perfectly valid question from a reporter about Iran's claim that the U.S. has already violated the agreement."
"What do you make of him tweeting that out before negotiations?" asked a reporter.
"Let me just say this," said Vance. "I actually wonder how good he is at understanding English, because there are things that he said that, frankly, didn't make sense in some in the context of negotiations that we've had."
"Okay, so just to unroll unpack that one, the speaker of Iran's parliament said that the U.S. violated the deal, and JD Vance's answer was, well, he just needs to brush up on his English, maybe it was a translation issue," said Psaki. "Again, JD Vance is the official who is supposed to sit across from the Iranians in these negotiations in just a few days. Now, if you thought that was a reach, just listen to how JD Vance tried to explain away the differences between Iran and the U.S. on the question of nuclear enrichment."
"The second thing Ghalibaf said, which again, I found fascinating, is he said, we refuse to give up the right to enrichment," said Vance. "And I thought to myself, you know what? My wife has the right to skydive, but she doesn't jump out of an airplane because she and I have an agreement that she's not going to do that, because I don't want my wife jumping out of an airplane."
"I have so many questions, like, what on earth are you talking about?" said Psaki. "Also, are you saying that you trust the Iranians won't enrich uranium even if they have access? Just like you trust your wife won't jump out of a plane? I still don't think it clears anything up. I don't know where that came from."
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