Fox News host Pete Hegseth said on air Monday that he doesn’t care about Iran’s cultural sites, saying that country would destroy all of America’s cultural sites if they had the chance.
“I don’t care about Iranian cultural sites, and I’ll tell you why,” Hegseth said. “If they could, if Iran could, if you understand the Islamic Republic of Iran, of Islamist…if they could, if they had the power, they would, they would destroy every single one of our cultural sites and build a mosque on top of it.”
“If you don’t understand the nature of our enemy, you’re foolish about who you’re pointing out and whether or not you are happy that Soleimani is dead,” he continued. “This guy exported terrorism for that regime for 40 years, and the fact Democrats in this country can’t take a pause to say, ‘This is a good thing, now let’s figure out how to prevent an Iranian bomb,’ they just go straight to politics, and it’s shameful.”
After ordering the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, President Donald Trump threatened to strike up to 52 targets in Iran if they attack any Americans or “American assets” on Twitter Saturday. (RELATED: FLASHBACK: Trump Predicted Obama Would Attack Iran To Get Reelected)
He even said that he would be willing to hit areas “important to Iran & the Iranian culture.”
Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
….targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
This tweet prompted New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to accuse Trump of wanting to commit a war crime.
“Targeting cultural sites is a war crime,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It should also go without saying that sites like Persepolis (& its PEOPLE) are not only treasures to Iranians, they are gifts to humanity.”
“They tell humanity’s story–that is why authoritarians target them. They want to erase history.”
Targeting cultural sites is a war crime.
It should also go without saying that sites like Persepolis (& its PEOPLE) are not only treasures to Iranians, they are gifts to humanity.
They tell humanity’s story – that is why authoritarians target them. They want to erase history. https://t.co/C3tx6Wf8mZ
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 6, 2020