During a recent broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Outnumbered,” former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany staunchly defended former President Donald Trump’s record in the Middle East and argued that an attack like the Oct. 7 Hamas surprise raid on Israel would not have happened under his watch.
That came when McEnany was arguing, albeit in a civil manner, with liberal commentator Marie Harf. Harf argued that the Biden Administration was busy negotiating “very powerfully” with Hamas to get hostages released.
McEnany, responding, argued that though it is good Biden has gotten hostages back, the attack never should have happened and would not have happened under the Trump Administration. She said, “Marie, in all due respect, you say they have been negotiating powerfully. Yes, we have gotten hostages back — who should have never been hostages! I don’t believe this attack would have taken place on President Trump’s watch, because this administration has not shown strength on the world stage.”
Continuing, McEnany then called out the Biden Administration for its treatment of the Houthis, a rebel group in Yemen that is fighting against the American-backed Saudis and Emiratis and have launched missiles at Israel.
She said, “The one question that should have been asked was not asked in that briefing — maybe it was asked before we dropped in, I didn’t hear it, though — my question, if I’m a White House correspondent, would have been, ‘Why have you not re-designated the Houthis as terrorist organization?’ Guess who did? President Trump on Jan. 15 of 2021. They were delisted on Feb. 4 by the Biden administration! And meanwhile, now we learn Houthis are trying to hijack ships, they’re shooting off ballistic missiles near Americans. Why have you not listed them? Pompeo told me it’s inexcusable.”
Harf then pushed back on McEnany, arguing that the Biden Administration is already doing what it can to stem Iranian influence without needlessly escalating tensions in the region, though she admitted that redesignating the Houthis as a terror organization is something the Biden Administration could do.
She said, “We want them to be tougher, right? We want them to push back, we want these attacks on our troops to stop, but what does that actually look like? OK, we can re-designate the Houthis — OK, we can talk about that. This administration has put over 50 additional sanctions on Iran since they came into office. Are we talking about striking Iran in Iran?”
The two then escalated the argument a bit, with it devolving into a back and forth spat over what could be done. McEnany, giving a suggestion, snapped, “Take out a Soleimani-type figure like Trump did!” Harf pushed back on that idea’s efficacy, saying, “But that didn’t stop the attacks, Kayleigh!”
McEnany then argued that Trump’s policies were a success because no soldiers died in the final year of his presidency, saying, “Not a single American service member died in the final year of his presidency.” Harf again argued that the policies weren’t efficacious, snapping, “It didn’t stop the attacks!”
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