Lieberman: Trump pulling out of Iran nuclear agreement was the right thing to do
Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman weighs in on escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman joined the growing chorus calling on Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., to "explain" her controversial recent remarks about the Holocaust.
During an interview on "Your World," Lieberman said that the freshman Congresswoman's remarks were "odd" and it would be best if she "stayed away from these subjects".
"In all of these statements about the Holocaust, I've never heard one like that," he told Fox News host Neil Cavuto.
"She should explain. It was an odd comment, she would be better off if she stayed away from these subjects and focused on doing things for her constituents."
Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, discussed the Holocaust on the Yahoo News podcast "Skullduggery."
"There’s always kind of a calming feeling, I tell folks, when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors — Palestinians — who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people's passports," Tlaib said on the most recent episode, which was put out Friday. "And, just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-the Holocaust, post-the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time. And, I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways, but they did it in a way that took their human dignity away and it was forced on them."
Tlaib has been condemned by many for the comments, including President Trump.
"Democrat Rep. Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust. She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people," Trump tweeted. "Can you imagine what would happen if I ever said what she said, and says?"
Earlier in the interview, Lieberman said former Secretary of State John Kerry made a "terrible mistake" when he spoke last year with Iranian officials.
Lieberman, who also served Connecticut in the U.S. Senate as both a Democrat and later an Independent, added that calls for Kerry to be prosecuted under the Logan Act are "probably overkill."
"I thought that John Kerry made a terrible mistake in talking to the foreign minister of Iran - almost giving him advice about how to deal with the Trump administration, which is at odds with Iran," Lieberman told Cavuto.
"It's the wrong thing to do. We have one secretary of state at a time."
Lieberman said President Trump "did the right thing" in removing the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly nicknamed the "Iran Deal."
Lieberman said that investigating or prosecuting Kerry may be ill-advised because the former Massachusetts senator still has his "freedom of speech."
"He can say whatever he wants publicly about what the president did with the Iran nuclear agreement," Lieberman said, maintaining that Kerry's contact with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was still a "bad move."
Lieberman said that going after Kerry on a Logan Act violation would "probably [be] overkill" but that the debate "establishes a principle."
TRUMP SAYS JOHN KERRY 'SHOULD BE PROSECUTED' FOR IRAN CONTACTS
"It's an important principle for the conduct of our foreign policy and, respectfully, John Kerry violated that principle, which makes a lot of sense," he said.
"To think about prosecuting him, we ought to just let it go," he said.
Lieberman said Kerry should consider how he would feel if former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell acted in a similar manner to his overtures.
Last week, President Trump accused Kerry of breaking the law by meeting with Iranian officials last year -- and went so far as to say he should be prosecuted under the Logan Act.
"You know John Kerry speaks to them a lot, and John Kerry tells them not to call. That’s a violation of the Logan Act, and frankly he should be prosecuted on that," Trump told reporters at the White House.
“But my people don’t want to do anything, only the Democrats do that kind of stuff. If it were the opposite way, they’d prosecute him under the Logan Act,” he said.
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