Yellow Journalism

“With his bushy white beard and easy smile, Ayatollah Khamenei cut a more avuncular figure in public than his perpetually scowling but much more revered mentor, and he was known to be fond of Persian poetry and classic Western novels” —The Washington Post’s William Branigin (“That is a bit narrow. He also had an avuncular predilection for mass killings, suppression of women, and the torture of dissidents…” —constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley)

Non Compos Mentis

“I criticized Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei a thousand times. He was oppressing his own people and preventing democracy. But there’s one thing you can’t take away from him, he died on his own two feet, instead of kneeling to Israel. That took courage. He didn’t bow.” —"The Young Turks" host Cenk Uygur

Demagogues

“Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want. Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice.” —Kamala Harris

“Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war.  Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change.” —NYC Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani

“President Trump’s decision to initiate military hostilities into Iran starts another unnecessary war which endangers our servicemembers and destabilizes an already fragile region.” —Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

“Trump has launched an illegal regime change war. As someone who has survived the horrors of war, I know military strikes will not make us safer; they will inflame tensions and push the region further into chaos. When we abandon diplomacy, we choose destruction.” —Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (“Any chance for regime change in Minneapolis?” —Larry Elder)

“Iraq was attacked by the US during Ramadan and it sickening to know that the US is again going to attack Iran during Ramadan. The US apparently loves to strike Muslim countries during Ramadan and I am convinced it isn’t what these countries have done to violate international law but about who they worship.” —Ilhan Omar (“The Iraq invasion began on March 20, 2003 and major combat operations were declared over on May 1, months before Ramadan that year. Surveys also show that in Iran only about 37% of the population identifies as Muslim, while nearly half describe themselves as non-religious.” —Community Note on X)

“Both the U.S. and genocidal Israel doesn’t care about the laws. This is who they are.” —Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)

“You cannot ‘free’ people by killing them and destroying their country.” —Rashida Tlaib

Credit Where It’s Due

“Iran massacred 30,000 of their own people… This war is not about the Iranian people. It’s about this poisonous regime. … I might be a Democrat, but in this specific case, the president is absolutely correct to do these kinds of actions.” —Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA)

For the Record

“The Hezbollah pager operation was incredible. The strike on the nuclear reactors was flawless. The Maduro operation was out of a Hollywood action movie. How can you even describe the Khomeini-leadership decapitation operation?” —Buck Sexton

“It’s more and more clear that October 7 was for Islamic radicals what Pearl Harbor was for the Japanese — a brilliant tactical success that carried within it the seeds of catastrophic strategic failure.” —Rich Lowry

“Save me your outrage. Obama bombed 8 countries without Congress approval and Clinton bombed an aspirin factory to cover up his affair.” —Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN)

“We’re not trying to start a war in Iran. The president is trying to end the war in Iran.” —Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)

“If Kamala were in office, we’d be sending Iran more pallets of cash.” —Tim Young