Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg faced intense backlash on Thursday for appearing to suggest that the United States was at least partially responsible for Iran shooting down an Ukrainian passenger plane this week.
“CBS News has learned that U.S. officials are confident that Iran shot down a Ukrainian jet liner over Tehran in the hours after Iranian missile attacks on U.S. targets,” CBS News’ Major Garrett reported. “176 people were killed, including at least 63 Canadians. This information is based on U.S. intelligence which sources say picked up signals of a radar being turned on. U.S. satellites we are told also detected two surface-to-air missile launches which happened shortly before the plane exploded.”
Buttigieg responded to Garrett’s reporting, which was featured in a tweet from CBS News, by writing, “Innocent civilians are now dead because they were caught in the middle of an unnecessary and unwanted military tit for tat. My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of all 176 souls lost aboard this flight.”
Last week, Buttigieg responded to President Donald Trump’s decision to eliminate Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani by telling an audience, “Taking out a bad guy is not necessarily a good idea.”
Buttigieg on Trump killing top Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani: “Taking out a bad guy is not necessarily a good idea."
Soleimani was responsible for murdering hundreds of U.S. soldiers & wounding thousands more.
Remarks from an event today in NH pic.twitter.com/DRakmHJP72
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) January 4, 2020
Buttigieg received widespread backlash over his apparent comments blaming the United States for Iran shooting down the passenger plane.
Dana Loesch wrote: “The I, R, A, and N keys must be missing from his keyboard.”
The I, R, A, and N keys must be missing from his keyboard. https://t.co/qt1iM4oi0H
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 9, 2020
Federalist co-founder Sean Davis wrote: “Democrats are fine-people-on-both-sides-ing Iranian terrorists to avoid siding with America because of their deranged hatred of Trump.”
Democrats are fine-people-on-both-sides-ing Iranian terrorists to avoid siding with America because of their deranged hatred of Trump. https://t.co/1FFc9F0qIS
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 9, 2020
Columnist David French wrote: “Nope. Nope. Nope. Iran launched a missile strike against our own troops, and then blundered by shooting down a civilian airliner when it wasn’t even under attack. That’s the story. This is on Iran.”
Nope. Nope. Nope.
Iran launched a missile strike against our own troops, and then blundered by shooting down a civilian airliner when it wasn't even under attack. That's the story. This is on Iran. https://t.co/VzjnJk2jR8
— David French (@DavidAFrench) January 9, 2020
Columnist David Harsanyi tweeted: “Honestly, this is just despicable. Of course, the reaction to this moral equivalency will be indignation that anyone dare question his patriotism.”
Of course, the reaction to this moral equivalency will be indignation that anyone dare question his patriotism.
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) January 9, 2020
Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake wrote: “Are any other Dems connecting this to Trump’s actions? There’s still A LOT we don’t know here.”
Are any other Dems connecting this to Trump's actions? There's still A LOT we don't know here. https://t.co/a61JefIy4a
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) January 9, 2020
John Noonan wrote: “Iran launches a ballistic missile salvo at Iraq. It fails to shut down its airspace during this attack. As it is attacking, incompetence by Iranian air-defense artillery leads to an IFF misidentification. In their confusion, they kill an airliner. So this is America’s fault.”
Iran launches a ballistic missile salvo at Iraq.
It fails to shut down its airspace during this attack.
As it is attacking, incompetence by Iranian air-defense artillery leads to an IFF misidentification. In their confusion, they kill an airliner.
So this is America's fault. https://t.co/QXy9CMq3z0
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 9, 2020
Columnist Conrad Black wrote: “Innocent civilians are now dead because Iran shot down a civilian passenger plane.”
Innocent civilians are now dead because Iran shot down a civilian passenger plane. https://t.co/ofn464VQmY
— Conrad Black (@ConradMBlack) January 9, 2020
Tom Nichols wrote: “This isn’t what happened. The Iranians knew they were about to proceed with a complicated military operation. The airport shouldn’t even have been open. This is not ‘caught in the middle’ of anything, it’s a screw up by the Iranians.”
This isn't what happened. The Iranians knew they were about to proceed with a complicated military operation. The airport shouldn't even have been open. This is not "caught in the middle" of anything, it's a screw up by the Iranians. https://t.co/nqKD5hGY9n
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 9, 2020
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote: “Iran allegedly shoots down a commercial airliner, and Pete Buttigieg’s first reaction is to blame America. Ridiculous.”
Iran allegedly shoots down a commercial airliner, and Pete Buttigieg’s first reaction is to blame America. Ridiculous.https://t.co/2e2ipUL3kh
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) January 9, 2020
Columnist Dan McLaughlin wrote: “Pete Buttigieg wins the race to be the first major Democrat to blame Trump for Iran shooting down a civilian airliner flying out of Tehran.”
Pete Buttigieg wins the race to be the first major Democrat to blame Trump for Iran shooting down a civilian airliner flying out of Tehran. https://t.co/qdwAfGtPiB
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) January 9, 2020
Columnist Erick Erickson wrote: “Letting the veil slip a bit to see his real world view.”
Letting the veil slip a bit to see his real world view. https://t.co/R5TRjzTo4U
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 9, 2020
Attorney Matthew Kolken wrote: “This is such a predictable response from the alleged ‘moderate’ in the Democratic field. It has become increasingly obvious that scoring political points and undermining Trump is more of a priority than national security. We live in interesting times.”
This is such a predictable response from the alleged "moderate" in the Democratic field. It has become increasingly obvious that scoring political points and undermining Trump is more of a priority than national security. We live in interesting times. https://t.co/fOK0UHCK2L
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) January 9, 2020