A Republican congressman's attempts to defend President Donald Trump's conflicting claims about Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities was met with laughter on CNN Wednesday morning.
Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC), a former Green Beret who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, appeared Wednesday on "CNN This Morning," where he defended the 80-year-old president's decision to launch the war and insisted Trump had clearly defined his goals in the ongoing conflict.
"The American people did have the goals and objectives clearly articulated to them from the beginning of the conflict," Harrigan said. "Now, they didn't have a choice in the conflict, that was a surprise to everybody. But we've actually achieved a fair number of them."
Harrigan argued the U.S. also needed to reduce Iran's drone capability, ensure it could not project regional force and prevent it from sponsoring terrorism, and he said most of those goals have been achieved.
But when he tried to echo a claim often made by Trump, he met with pushback.
"We've absolutely buried their nuclear program," Harrington said, "and we have the ability to have persistent over-the-horizon oversight and continually come back to those sites—"
That's when Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright cut in with an objection.
"You all said that to the American people before — it was obliterated, it was destroyed, and now here we are having the same conversation," Seawright said. "Now you're saying once again it was destroyed. So which one is it?"
Seawright continued to push Harrington to specify his argument.
"Was it destroyed before or is it destroyed now?" he said. "You see why there's a lack of trust between the American people and what this administration, and you all are saying, versus the real facts that are on the table."
Harrigan tried to downplay the discrepancies.
"I'm trying to call balls and strikes, and what the administration has said is a little bit different than the way that I'm portraying it," Harrigan conceded.
Seawright interjected with a question, asking, "So you don't believe it was destroyed the first time is what you're saying?"
"It's absolutely buried," Harrigan assured him. "There's no question."
"No, the first time, the first time it was announced that it was obliterated, destroyed," Seawright retorted. "You don't, you didn't believe that then because you're saying now it is. So was it destroyed then or now?"
"It's functionally obliterated from the perspective of they can't get to it," Harrigan dodged.
Seawright shook his head and laughed.
"You dancing really nice," he said.
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