Lawrence O'Donnell on Monday took President Donald Trump to task for his attempts to describe the unpopular Iran conflict as anything but a war, calling it a "human thesaurus" effort.
O'Donnell Criticizes Trump's Language
"No president has ever taken a war less seriously, and America does not approve," said the MSNBC host, pointing to poor polling numbers on the conflict. O'Donnell emphasized that Trump appeared to know his military engagement "became fully illegal" last week when he tried to justify not seeking congressional approval despite the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
Trump's 'Mini War' Comments
"You know, they don't like the word war. And they call it a military operation because that way you don't have a war, you don't have legal problems," Trump said in a West Palm Beach, Florida, speech on Friday, marking 62 days since the Feb. 28 strikes on Iran. O'Donnell then criticized Trump's "childish language" before airing a clip of the president claiming the U.S. was in a "mini war" with Iran.
Historical Context of Illegal Wars
O'Donnell highlighted how the concept of an "illegal war" in American politics stems from the Vietnam era and detailed how the 1973 act was an effort to prevent another war like it. "Congress learned its lesson with Vietnam, the war that Donald Trump refused to participate in when offered a chance by his local draft board, whereupon he presented a letter from a doctor saying that Donald Trump's feet just couldn't take a day in Army boots anywhere in the world," he said.
