On the first day of the war in Iran, a missile strike on an Iranian girls’ school killed 175 people, many of them children. A week later, a reporter asked Donald Trump whether the United States was responsible for the horrific incident. The president replied, “No. In my opinion and based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran. … We think it was done by Iran.”
In the days that followed, he repeated the claim, which the White House stopped echoing after a preliminary investigation by the Pentagon found the strike was the result of dated targeting information: U.S. intelligence indicated the school had been part of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard base that had been turned into the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school several years ago.
Three months later, a reporter asked the president whether he’ll hold anyone accountable for what happened. The Republican apparently didn’t like the question.
“No,” Trump replied. “If it was a fault, and as you know, that’s under investigation. It’s such a strange question to be asked at this date, because you’re talking about a long time ago, but nobody did that on purpose. I guess you’d have to say about them, what about the thousands of soldiers that they blew up when they opened their car door?”
Relying on one of the worst passive-voice phrases in politics, he added that “mistakes are made.”
Everything about his response was an offensive mess.
First, there’s nothing “strange” about asking whether the White House will hold someone — anyone — accountable for what happened. Second, the idea that this happened “a long time ago” is ridiculous. We’re talking about a military strike from three months ago that is allegedly under investigation right now. Third, the idea that Iranian violence somehow negates the importance of what happened reflects a perspective that is inherently morally bankrupt.